Bridging The Dimensions
by Zemptai
Summary: [OC's/Semi-SI] A group of four competitive Yu-Gi-Oh players find themselves within the Yu-Gi-Oh-verse after a mind boggling and confusing experience. With reforged will, these people aim for fame and glory in a world built to exhibit the elite's talent and creativity. Set in the year 2022, well after the graduation of beloved characters of cannon, familiar faces still arise.
1. Chapter 1

**Yu-Gi-Oh: Bridging The Dimensions**

* * *

**Article 1 - Chapter 1 - A Mere Droplet In An Infinite Bucket**

_**Warnings: I do not own Yu-Gi-Oh, it's intellectual property is owned by none other than Konami and Kazuki Takahashi. If I owned Yu-Gi-Oh - it wouldn't be as riddled with incompetant duelists, ruling errors, and ass-pull bullshit as it was. So there.**_

_**Notes: **__While I planned on releasing this chapter way sooner, but I inevitably 'shelved' the project because of wanting to focus on finishing my Naruto Fanfiction first. I got a few questions from readers "whatever happened to it?", and the story just reached __**400 followers**__, so as a special treat, I figured I'd release what I had finished here and see if there was any interest in it at all. I might start writing both stories side-by-side if there is enough of a demand. (This story was in part inspired by the fanfiction: "State of the Meta" as well as the T.V. show Rick and Morty. I'd heavily recommend both to all of you. Enjoy)_

**-Also, still accepting Beta readers! Hit me up with a PM-**

* * *

_**MATURE CONTENT WARNING:**_

_**The POV character's in this story are not posterboys for ethics or morality. People and characters should rightly have flaws, and using derogatory terms, scenes with illegal activities, and characters just making bad decisions in general, shouldn't be a reason in itself to discredit a story. That being said, this story has a MATURE rating for a reason. If at any time you find you can't handle it, feel free to stop reading. That being said, A single character's perspective on a subject, especially a flawed characters - doesn't revoke a stories validity and nor should it be dismissed as something that doesn't belong. Our world is grey, and as such for the sake of mirroring reality, I strongly believe that fiction should also be grey. Sensitive subjects shouldn't be avoided, they should be embraced by writers to start a dialog with readers as fellow people as a tool to come to an informed consensus on real issues going on in the world. Thank you for reading this, and Enjoy the chapter. **_

┬┴┬┴┤ Chapter 1 ├┬┴┬┴

┬┴┬┴┤寸法の橋渡し├┬┴┬┴

I remember back when I first looked out the window of a plane, I realized just how small I was in comparison to our vast earth. Still, our observable universe is so ludicrously larger than our world and even that can't compare to the infiniteness that is _really_ out there.

I was so naive and comfortable until I stumbled across a great secret hidden from the masses. Something so significant it could change everyone's view of life entirely, but I guess I should start at the beginning, back to the day where everything changed for me.

...

"Gamemaster, I finished my index, can you check it for me?" I heard from the next room over while seated on a couch.

I was too engrossed with my phone to pay attention to the television displaying a college basketball game. Besides - the game was one sided and its results were already cemented in my mind. My close friend Jackson was seated beside me shuffling card sleeves compulsively while swearing under his breath.

"The Gators can't do shit without Billy Donovan. He needs to come back and lead the Gators to a few more championships." Jackson said slapping my leg to get my attention.

"I doubt he'll quit his job as a head coach in the NBA just to return to the collegiate level." I said bored.

Straining my neck and turning my head towards the kitchen behind us, I saw two familiar faces that I'd normally see at least once a day. The two at the kitchen table were cutting out paper with precision tools, making custom cards along with counterfeit _'real'_ cards.

"Hmm... yeah this looks fine, should— Wait, What the hell is this?" The Gamemaster Mozzie asked pointing at the index paper.

"Uhh... come on, everyone made OP decks." Steve said.

The man was getting tired of his idea's being shot down one after another. Steve had imagination, but he had trouble reigning it in under guidelines and rules.

"Mmmmmm... nope, you're 'gunna have to balance your deck a bit more before it can be accepted for the fantasy gauntlet."

Too bored with the monotony that was the power creeped to hell meta that Yu-Gi-Oh became over the years, we decided to hold a fantasy gauntlet where we created custom decks to use against each other for fun, Steve was the last one out of us four who's card index wasn't accepted yet.

"Bertram's deck is busted as hell and you even accepted it. So, What's wrong with mine?!"

My lips pulled into a crooked smile having overheard him talking about me.

"Bertram is just a strong tactician. He linked his cards together to work smoothly, but I believe there to be sufficient limitations, so it got accepted."

"**Ttchh!"** Steve clicked brimming with frustration.

"It doesn't matter how powerful an effect is, but with more powerful effects you need to add more limits. Limits are the most important thing for constructing a fun deck." The Gamemaster said.

"Here, what if... I just change _'this'_ to... something... more like _'this'_… and _'this'_… hmm… Yeah I'll make _'this'_ do _'that'_ instead." He said as he edited effects on a few of the cards.

"Yeah! There you go. Hell yeah, this is awesome. Okay - I approve your deck."

"Finally." Steve said in an exasperated voice.

"**Alright everyone's decks are approved."** The Gamemaster announced causing Jackson to turn his head back to the kitchen as well.

"Jesus, how many times did you have to change effects Stevie?" Jackson taunted.

"Like... I don't know, maybe 15 times?"

"Bro, mine got accepted on my 2nd try, you suck at this." I teased.

"**Favoritism?!"**

"—We should go get food before we duel." Gamemaster Mozzie said looking to the rest of us for confirmation.

The Gamemaster for our group was decided simply by luck for the day. Mozzie had successfully called the most coin flips consecutively, which was fortunate as really only Mozzie and myself were qualified to be able to do the job properly.

"I vote chipotle." Mozzie said.

"You'd go to chipotle every chance you could get. I want... Hmm, I'm thinking hold on - Gimme a second." I said diving into thought.

_Anything -Anything but Chipotle again._

"Taco Bell. It has to be Taco Bell!" Steve said, leaving no room for argument while pumping his chest.

"—Taco Bell is just like a shittier chipotle, come-on my guy!" Mozzie interjected.

_I didn't want to, but I had to agree with Mozzie on his opinion on food for once. Taco Bell would certainly be worse._

"—Kay, We go to chipotle a lot, but so what? It's because it's fucking delicious." Jackson said before bringing his hands to his mouth kissing them and lifting them up in a stereotypical italian fashion. "I'm down for chipotle—"

"—and it's close. Yeah okay I vote chipotle too." I said hoping to extinguish any hope Steve had to continue on his Taco Bell vendetta.

"That's majority vote, let's go." Mozzie stated with Glee.

Steve looked betrayed by the rest of us, especially by me, before begrudgingly following the rest of us out to Jackson's mustang parked along the curb in the middle of our surrounding suburbia.

Our feet fell in droves. Jackson fiddled with his keychain dongle until both his headlights and tail lights flashed with an accompanied nostalgic beep.

"If you get any dirt or mud in _'the Stang',_ I'll kick your ass."

The statement was undoubtedly directed towards all of us.

Steve began flexing and slapping his athletic arms in a show of strength to Jackson's challenge.

"You know what Rick James would say about _your stang_?" Steve asked challengingly.

"—I don't know. His ass would be walkin' to Taco Bell like your about to though."

Realizing his position, Stevie started sulking, slipping into the backseat without another word.

The ride was non eventful besides the fact we somehow managed to get stopped at EVERY red light. The strip mall's parking lot was ill designed requiring us to walk all the way around the building to get to Chipotle's entrance. The mumbles of the boys went one in one ear and out the other as I observed our surroundings.

The streetlights bathed the concrete and asphalt in a yellowish glow paired with the nearly full moon that shone down brilliantly.

This was a somewhat sketchy area and you needed to have your head on a swivel if you wanted to avoid trouble.

Looking down an alleyway, I noticed something odd. Two men in spectacularly intricate black suits with sunglasses walking away from us. Their attire was so contrasted by the trashed surroundings and graffitied brick walls with the local gang logo that I worried for them.

_They seemed pretty confident to be out here like this, they might actually be the ones up to no good._

I stopped. Pressing up against the wall to avoid being spotted, I continued gazing down the alley.

"What are you doing bro? Looks like you're snooping. Better not let anyone catch you." Jackson warned without stopping.

The two suited men turned towards the grody brick wall, one fiddling with their wrist.

"Snitches get Stitches." Mozzie said with a grim smile.

The men walked closer inspecting the wall, one with a hand extended outward to lean against it.

_No what?!_

I rubbed my eyes as I was sure I must have been seeing things.

The two men instead of leaning against the wall disappeared into it leaving no trace of their presence behind. Despite the fact that I rubbed my eyes, and I was in a state of denial that what I witnessed could be reality, the two men were gone without a trace.

"Pick up the pace Snoopie, we aren't waiting on you." Jackson called out reaching for the door handle.

"**Guys! Come here! Now!"** I commanded in a stern tone.

They stopped in their tracks, confusion evident in their faces.

"Don't get involved in those rich folks bro, its trouble." Mozzie retorted half whispering.

"No its not… dude, they walked through a solid wall… like magic."

"Some _Harry Potter_ platform nine and three quarters type shit? Bro you're trippin'." Jackson said flashing me a disbelieving look.

"No-I swear, get over here." I said ushering them over with my hands.

A few within the group sighed and grumbled dragging their feet as they made their way back. Looking down the alleyway they too noticed the men were gone.

"What'd they actually do? Parkour up the wall or something?" Jackson asked finally.

"In those suits? Pshhht - Rich folks like those would be out of their mind doing something like that." Steve said.

"So… where did they go?" Mozzie asked.

"I told you! They walked through the wall, I swear!" I said nearly not believing what I saw myself.

Quickly, I looked around to make sure no one else was around. The alleyway had no exits, you had to traverse from one end to the other besides for a single door on each side of the alleyway each locked up tight and barred off.

"Yo, be a lookout for me right quick. Shout if anyone starts coming over." I said.

Although my friends were mostly all in disagreement, They reluctantly kept an eye out for me as I made my way down the alleyway. I tiptoed trying to make the least amount of noise possible as I approached the area where I could have sworn the men disappeared into.

Reaching the area, I touched the brick wall, The hard stoney exterior with grout made me question my sanity.

"Jump right into it bro - Head first!" Mozzie said jokingly.

"Do a flip." Stevie encouraged while the rest snickered.

I slapped at the wall slowly moving further and further… and… and my hand traveled through where the wall _was_ during the last slap. The wall looked like it was there, but my hand and arm sailed through the illusion causing me to lose balance and trip forward.

My eyes caught sight of High tech machines and a weird sign before I Instinctively crawled backwards rolling back onto my feet out of the gap I had briefly fell through.

Shoes squeaked and slapped the ground approaching me and I turned to see my friends with eyes wide in disbelief.

"No way, Call me a hairy pot-smoker but I coulda sworn he just vanished into the wall. Jack you see that?!" Mozzie said startled.

"I-I don't know what I saw…" Jackson replied eyes unable to be peeled away from the wall, his leg bouncing erratically.

Steve leaned forward sticking his arm through the space and it slipped past what should have been a completely solid wall, disappearing up to his shoulder, and then his neck into the mysterious anomaly.

He pulled his head back out with eye sparkling amazement. "You gotta see this!"

Instantly after he stopped talking, he walked through the wall disappearing fully. The image of my friend vanishing being swallowed by the wall into that unsettlingly futuristic space flashing through my mind made me more than uneasy.

I followed behind quickly, the high tech machinery and monitor displays instead of cementing my eerie sense of danger began impressing me now that I had time to fully appreciate them.

Behind me, the familiar footsteps of my other two friends joined us in the peculiar futuristic room.

"Woah! This is crazy!" Steve said in awe.

"This goes beyond crazy, its freaky. Rich folks always be hiding all their good stuff from us. I didn't even know they could make fake walls look so real." Mozzie said.

"I think we should leave. This seems like trouble." Jackson warned.

"Nobodies here dude, just us." Steve said pacing around the joint.

"Think they'll miss one of these monitors? They look like their 4k resolution or better. Whoever made this has some serious guap." I asked.

"Guap-Guap" Mozzie said dancing rubbing his index finger along his thumb.

"Money-Money!" I sung playfully still careful to survey the area.

"Take anything from people like this and they'll probably hunt you down. Why else would they make an operation like this unless they were up to no good. I bet there's cameras. **LETS GO!**"

Steve and Mozzie looked at each other, their smiles slowly fading as it dawned on them the brutal truth those words probably carried.

"I'm sick and tired of being sick and tired guys. Maybe they'll let us join them?" Steve announced.

It was a bad idea, my instincts agreed with Jackson saying I should run, but my innate curiosity wouldn't let me leave with so many unanswered questions.

_How did they build this? Why? And where did the men run off to with such a confined room with seemingly only one entrance and exit._

The Monitors all showed random surveillance video of outside the alley as well as other weird places I didn't recognize.

"**Where did the gap in the wall go?"** Jackson shouted panicked.

Steve turned around flashing Jackson a cheeky grin, waltzing up to the area and entertainingly performing a breast stroke with his arms mimicking swimming through the gap, but slammed into the wall to his surprise along with everyone else's in the group.

My sense of danger was superseded by my sense of adventure. At this moment I was certain that whatever was happening, everything was going to change.

Jackson slapped furiously at the wall. Up, down, right, left, he wasn't leaving any brick untouched. Joining him, the rest of us felt around to our joined horror. Our exit was sealed.

_How is this possible? The entrance was right here?!_

My breathing grew erratic and I feared that I had made a terrible mistake.

_I shouldn't have come here. I shouldn't have followed them. I should have just kept walking, Why did I let my curiosity drag me into this!?_

"There has to be an explanation!" Mozzie said hushed with a finger at his lips, curiously looking up and around the room.

"The two guys had to get out, so there's got to be another exit anyways!" Steve said assuringly but still disturbed.

It was at that moment that my eyes fixated on the odd sign that I noticed the first time my head poked into the room.

"_Dimension 3TK-241"_

_Dimension? What is going on here?_

Underneath it was a mirror affixed to the wall, cloudy like condensation was adhered to it. It was so entirely out of place I questioned why my eyes hadn't been drawn to it sooner.

Slowly I approached the mirror with faulty footing, the boys noticing my hesitancy as I neared it making them fall silent.

I reached out to the mirror to touch its glassy exterior, but my fingertips never met with the expected refractive surface, instead the feeling like a gelatinous liquid met and let my fingers permeate through it.

The sensation filled me with equal parts terror and excitement. The earth I had largely believed to be nearly fully explored, No uncharted discoveries and true wonder would be left behind for the future. But in this instance, behind this mirror, I couldn't tell what awaited me. It was the true unknown, something I hadn't experienced for a long time.

Wiggling my fingers from the other side, I bravely gathered my breath and discarded my indecision plunging into the unknown.

My ignorance of that day has haunted me as well as filled me with a new sense of purpose. A strange fulfillment that I doubt I could've arrived at in my old life - the dead end I had arrived at before this inciting incident. There was no turning back, there was only facing forward and accepting the consequences of my decisions.

Light blinded me forcing me to block it out with a hand while my pupils constricted trying to adapt to the change in environment. A mass bumped me from behind, and turning to look, I noticed a swirling green and white glowing vortex behind Steve who knocked into me.

Above the Vortex was a floating hologram with the text _"%øpk8uyk 3TK-241"_

The beginning text resembled characters I've seen before, but never had I seen the actual characters. I could only compare them to what I have been exposed to before. These were new, different, but the ending 7 characters were recognizable as they were the same from the sign just above the mirror I just entered.

The unfamiliar was confusing, grasping at my heart in my chest feeling like it was being crushed by a hand.

Blood pumping through my veins in a frenzy, I spun around to soak in everything around me, lines and lines of other green and white vortex's were all lined up with different ending 7 characters.

"_3TK-361, 3TL-002, 3TL-109, 3FJ- 497…"_

_Are all these… pathways to different dimensions?_

I couldn't help it, my jaw hung open in awe and terror at what all this information I was accumulating really meant.

Still surveying the area, I spotted two figures who resembled humanoid lifeforms, but their skin was a bleached blue, and folding wrinkles covered their entire bodies. My eyes were pulled back to the familiar… well tailored black suits they both wore jump started my imagination causing it to run wild.

_Those two are the men we saw aren't they?! Aliens?!_

"**G****Žu&úúy!?"** one of the monstrosities bellowed from their unhatched maw.

Survival Instincts overwrote any logical thought processes I may have been having. I had two primal options, fight or run, and fighting was unthinkable. I pressed off the floor as hard as possible, leaning forward to add distance between me and the monsters.

_RUN - RUN - RUN._

After taking several steps, I was near a new portal I could leap into, perhaps a freedom away from the monsters who looked so upset at the sight of me. The portal was so close, maybe two feet, and my legs continued to pump, however stopped making contact with the marvelous pure white floor. I was floating with a strange constricting feeling wrapping around my body.

Horror enveloped my psyche. The portal only grew in distance from me, my escape plan had failed.

"**AGHHHHHH!"** I heard a shrill scream.

"**-FUCK! I KNEW I SHOULDA' WALKED TO TACO BELL!"** Steve shouted.

I felt light headed. The color of the surroundings faded. My vision distorted.

_This… this is it isn't it?_

* * *

┬┴┬┴┤寸法の橋渡し├┬┴┬┴

I awoke to the uncomfortable metallic chill sapping heat from my back. Slowly regaining my witt and realizing the situation I was in, I thrashed about, however my appendages were immobile.

"Calm down Homo-sapien. There is nothing you can do."

A normal looking man sporting the memorable intricate black suit and sunglasses stood in front of me without a definable expression.

"We are going to be demoted… The last time a three dimensional monkey slipped into the federation HQ the team responsible was sacked."

"-Stop, I have a plan." The _'man'_ in front of me said.

"We don't have the clearance to modify conscious thought within the fourth dimension. They have located a hub, we can not send them back."

"I know, which is why we paint over our mistake by injecting them into a different dimension. They won't have any crucial knowledge if we place them into a new reality. Besides, their faith can still be harvested if we choose correctly not upsetting any balances."

My brain hurt, I couldn't comprehend all the insane things I was hearing.

"Your right, besides, more than half of all homo-sapiens still have double digit intellect quotients. There feeble minds couldn't fathom the gravity their dimensions are merely fuel cells."

"Our reality… is just an alien battery?" I found myself spit out.

"Precisely Human. Your realities are simulations projected as third dimensional holograms experienced by the conscious mind located in the fourth dimension." The man responded before me.

_Impossible… That can't be…_

"Why are you informing the monkey? Just finish finding suitors compatible with their conscious so we can wash our hands of it."

"The conscious... My mind… resides in the fourth dimension?" I asked without regard to my safety. At this point all I could do was soak up knowledge.

"It must be a hard concept to understand monkey, since most of your species ignorantly believes that time is the fourth dimension, but such a claim is asinine. To claim that time would be so lowly as the mere 4th dimension of the nine would be idiotic."

_There are… nine dimensions?_

"But... what about all those portals, it seemed to be far more than nine dimensions." I asked straining to comprehend anything.

It felt like they might just be saying anything to try to confuse me. _I just don't see a reason as to why? How could they possibly benefit from that?_

"There are infinite amounts of parallel universes, and within each universe exists a total of nine dimensions."

"Why are you informing this monkey? Information is on the opposite spectrum of faith. An informed specimen cannot awaken faith and is thus is useless for energy production. I see no reason for it."

_The energy they harvest from our battery simulation thingies are from our faith? Faith in what? God? Our reality? I'm not understanding, not at all._

It felt like I was trying to view a puzzle but only had a few of the necessary pieces. There were holes in the logic they said in perspective from my understanding.

"It is no different than talking to nothing. They can never comprehend, how many ongoing 3D simulations have stumbled upon hints of the secrets and have never progressed. Nothing _it_ can do will change that."

"..."

"Perfect, coordinate analysis complete. 100% compatibility for all four subjects. Initializing transfer."

"What is happening to us?"

"You monkeys are being re-simulated at the cost of others. You all are being provided with a new start, which is more than you deserve you lower lifeforms. Seems with this data we might even be capable of providing each of you with concessions for our error. Rejoice in our mercy and spend your new lives in pursuit of faith."

"Whaa—" I started.

A green retina burning light beamed towards me and everything cut to black.

* * *

┬┴┬┴┤寸法の橋渡し├┬┴┬┴

Warmth enveloped me causing my wrinkled sheets to be stained of perspiration. Unwilling to drag myself out of bed after the horrifyingly odd dream I experienced, I instead laid still with my eyelids closed relaxed focusing on my breathing.

Reaching off to the side of my bed, I grasped for my water bottle groggily but knocked something metallic over instead. The crash from the floor forced me to sit up causing a wave of panic to spread over me.

_This isn't my room. I've never seen this place before!_

Pulling myself from this foreign bed, and scouting around the room, I quickly realized that something went terribly wrong.

My physique which had once had bulging muscles beneath the layers of fat from more recent inactivity were nowhere to be seen. Instead I felt light as a feather, and as thin as a twig.

The reflection of myself off the unpowered monitor alerted me to the fact that I was no longer the person I had once been. Blonde swept hair flowed around my head just above the ears. My now green piercing eyes stared back at me in uncertainty.

"_You monkeys are being re-simulated at the cost of others." _rung from inside my head.

The surrealism of the situation was maddening.

_I had just replaced someone else's consciousness? What happened to them? _

"**Kisuke! Breakfast is almost ready! WAKE-UP!"** a booming feminine voice shouted from within the home.

I had always been an only child, but now I couldn't be certain the voice was even calling out to myself. I quickly fumbled through drawers and my closet hoping to get an idea as to what my identity was.

Inside a backpack, I found a photo with the boy who formerly inhabited this body, another male, and a female, all looking to be about grade schoolers. On the back in ink was penned "Kisuke, Don't ever forget our promise. - Aketo"

It seems that I was now this person named Kisuke, and that means…

"**Get your butt down here Kisuke! NOW!"**

_Yup… that would mean she was talking to me… I wonder what kind of people were this boy's family._

After heading downstairs, I found to my discovery the meal was oatmeal with raisins. Disgusted by the idea that I would be eating this, I still convinced myself to give it a chance.

_I could very well have different taste buds correct? Perhaps this will actually taste lovely now..._

Sitting down at the table, The woman behind the counter was busy scrubbing away at the counter. Her long lustrous dirty blonde hair, green eyes, and petite thin frame clued me in to who the boy probably took after physically.

"Thanks Mom." I said.

"Your welcome honey." she responded with cheer.

I looked at the spoonful of mush with dejection forcing it into my mouth, and after swallowing I let out a reflexive gag.

"Honey are you not feeling well?" The woman asked in a now concerned tone approaching me.

"Uh… I feel a little sick to my stomach, I'm not sure why." I said hoping to sidestep the real issues.

"You hardly ever get sick... I bet it's from running around wet the other night. I told you to be careful."

"Oh— I'm sorry Mom, but it's all fine, maybe I'll just skip breakfast."

"Breakfast is the most important meal of the day, sweetie even if you aren't feeling well you should eat a little." She said encouragingly.

Looking down into the bowl of slop, I realized I'd be willing to make concessions so that wouldn't happen.

I got up and hugged my mom, which surprised her but she hugged into me back. "Are you sure everything is fine?"

"Yeah Mom, I'm just sorry you went through the trouble of cooking and I'm not going to eat it."

"Your over-reacting. you get that melodrama from your father... not that I don't appreciate it." She said as she poked my forehead.

I felt my cheeks get hot. _I'm a fully grown man in this teen's body and am enjoying having an actual family this time around? Preposterous…_

Despite trying to deny it, a warming sensation was spreading from my core and I fought back a gladdened smile.

_This was certainly better of a home life than I received last time… but its not mine, it's Kisuke's._

I looked around the living room, gazing at the many framed pictures around the house. The sight of seeing someone else's life through the frames of these pictures to fill in the nonexistent memories which I never experienced made me feel like a villain... I invaded this family and took away the child they held so dear.

"You either die a hero or see yourself live long enough to become the villain, huh?" I whispered.

"Now your looking at our photo album? What's with the sudden interest of memory lane my boy?"

I felt a hand on my shoulder, quickly turning my head to see what I could only assume was my _'father'_.

He was tall, towering over me by at least a foot, his short curly brown hair merged seamlessly with his full flush beard which reminded me greatly of James Harden's in my former reality. His brown eyes sparkled with curiosity complimenting his confident grin.

"What is this?" I asked pointing at an odd picture I had been staring at in disbelief for several minutes.

The father looked shocked I would ask such a question and narrowed his eyes at me.

_Oh no, did I blow my cover?_

He began laughing deep from his chest, it was loud enough to fill the house with the sound. I immediately began laughing too recognizing this was my opportunity to glaze over my mistake.

"Like you could ever forget your 8th birthday at the Kiaba Dome where that king of games Yugi took on Kiaba in an anniversary match."

My heart cramped, the room seemed to sway and my legs which I was sitting on felt numb and weak. Surely if I weren't sitting down that lightheadedness would have swept me off my feet.

_Wait, no. Okay calm down... perhaps they just showed a movie of—_

My father turned on the television blaring the local news broadcast network which declared:

"Industrial Illusions has announced that it will be holding a seeded youth Tournament on July 28th in the Kiabadome. So-far, only one contestant is confirmed at this time _**Kiaba Jr.**_ already well on his way to joining the pro circuit with his astounding semi-pro performances. Any fans of duel monsters should pre-order the tickets while they last at Industrial Illusions website!"

My eyes' widened in bafflement. _I'm sure my face is betraying me right now... Has he noticed?_

"-Ah, you've always loved watching duel monsters. If only you had practiced more instead of spending all your time on fan websites that could have been you."

I realized my situation, but It was absolutely unbelievable. "Impossible."

I thought back to another quote: _"__There are infinite amounts of parallel universes."_

_So… I'm to believe, that one of these parallel universes contains the universe from Yu-Gi-Oh?_

"Oh come now kid, what did you think this whole time when I said that you could do whatever you set your mind to. You didn't believe me all this time?" He said starting to sound a bit offended.

_Oh no, navigating around these people that have known this 'Kisuke' person their whole life and staying in character is like walking through an active minefield blindfolded. There is absolutely no reason for any increased difficulty modifiers! Curse my luck._

"N-No dad! I-I think you're right! I just... I need to put more effort into what I care about."

My now dad looked even more shocked at my statement.

I internally clicked my tongue._ I don't know anything about who this damn person was. Every step further takes me deeper into the minefield. Will I ever escape?_

To my surprise, a wide smile spread across my dad's face.

_Just what are you grinning for?_

"That's my boy!" He said while rubbing my hair with the same goofy grin on his face.

"Hey - I just combed that." I said annoyed hoping to sound like an angsty teen.

"Looks like you'll be at it again huh?!" he said before letting out a burst of boisterous laughter.

* * *

┬┴┬┴┤寸法の橋渡し├┬┴┬┴

After returning upstairs, I tore apart my room familiarizing myself with all the possessions and resources I found myself acquiring through this odd ungodly inheritance. Pulling out a heavy duty case from the closet that had to be at least half my weight, I picked through the decent lot of cards the kid had stashed away, but 'decent' referring to the number of cards and not their power or utility.

I found a deck box inside with sleeved cards, the sleeves having designs of dragons on the back. The deck itself was an odd hodgepodge of dragons and water monsters.

_It seems the star of the deck was Penguin soldier running three copies, but the deck was weak, inconsistent, with no unifying theme, and didn't even have all the staples which he would need to really challenge relevant decks of... hmm... What era of Yu-Gi-Oh is this? What cards are even publicly available?_

Deciding to immerse myself in this world's meta, I booted up the boy's unimpressive computer. Recognizing this type of technology was reminiscent of the early 2010's of my last world.

Curious as to what timeframe I was dropped into this Yu-Gi-Oh-Verse, I checked the on board memory for the date and time.

_July 17th - 9:29am - 2022_

"This kid seemed to own a fair amount of dated technology for this to be 2022, It's surprising he didn't run a Dino deck" I said cutely.

Looking at cards online on retailer websites, I pulled up multiple card shop tabs to compare prices before finding the all inclusive Database. I scrolled through the available search criteria and noticed there were none for Synchro/XYZ/Pendulums.

That would mean that the cards shouldn't go past _'Duel Terminal - Synchro Awakening!'_ ... but I kept finding cards that betrayed that idea.

Hmm... okay, so it looks like they have **Tin Goldfish**, okay, wow... and **Proton Saber** **Tiger**, weird.

_Well... I guess I can organize and price check all my cards so I can see how much value worth of cards I have. That should let me estimate what kind of deck I can afford._

I looked up the prices of cards one-by-one, but the value wasn't going up by a whole lot... until I stumbled upon a sleeved "**Red-Eyes Darkness Metal Dragon**." The value was absurdly high, it would seem this card is highly valued by the rest of the world because of the current format of the game.

_I don't have anywhere near the rest of the cards to play dragons, let alone chaos dragons._

_Hmm... perhaps before trying to trade away my cards, I should ask the opinions of my parents. They may after all despise the idea of trading the cards they likely bought the boy. It's a semi-reasonable conclusion, but perhaps I can convince them the necessity behind it._

His father and mother had differing viewpoints on the idea, but after talking it over, if I wanted to trade or sell "Red-Eyes" then my father wanted to be present to make sure I didn't get scammed or robbed.

I felt anger bubbling in the back of my mind at the idea of being babied like this, but I guess I can understand my father's request especially since he still believes I am _his Kisuke_.

I could get all the staples and the engine I need to make the deck I had in mind if I could trade off this card. In other words, there was no question as to what I would do.

"I'm going to sell it. I want to construct the strongest deck I can. I want to be the best duelist I possibly can, and I'm willing to do anything to achieve my dream."

My mother stared at me flabbergasted. A few tears forming in her eyes before she quickly wiped it away turning around to hide. My father snaked his arm around her waist and I could hear him whisper into her ear:

"If this is what he wants, we should just support him. He'll be going off to a private duel school soon enough. He's basically a man now."

_A private duel school?_

"Central Duel Academy?" I asked uncertainly.

My father just stared back at me in surprise.

"Of all the times you finally decide on a school, you decide you want to go to the most prestigious and difficult school to be accepted in? I doubt you can make the cut if you applied this late." He said sternly holding eye contact with me.

"I'll make it dad… I've… I've been studying in secret all this time. I… I was afraid of voicing my goal because I wasn't sure I could do it, but now I'm certain I can do it!"

The confidence I projected was real, and fumbling about on the sentences was only due to having to navigate the tightrope between what I wanted and what they expected of me.

Tears started leaking down my new fathers face having heard this, him approaching closer to me and taking a knee, looking up at me with his pride on full display.

"I knew that you'd follow your passion one of these days. I always had faith in you my boy." He said clapping a palm over my back and embracing me.

"Promise me you'll work hard, and I'll do everything I can. Promise me." He whispered into my ear.

"I promise that I'll work harder than you ever imagined capable of me until now. I'll surpass every expectation you have. I… I want to be the best dad."

He choked on his breath a little, hugging me even tighter.

"That's all I had to hear. I'll find a way, I promise." He said softly but sternly.

* * *

┬┴┬┴┤寸法の橋渡し├┬┴┬┴

I jotted down a list of all the cards I needed to form the 40 card deck of my imagination, what my expected total cost would be, as well as multiple sources appraising the value of "**Red-Eyes Darkness Metal Dragon**." Best case scenario I'd still have 36,000 Ryo after the transaction.

My dad lead the way with the card in question in a hard plastic protective case to avoid damaging the mint card.

We had already been to two local card shops that either wern't willing to buy the card for fear that it was a fake, or didn't offer a good enough price for it trying to gain a steal from it. These card vendors were sharks, even more cut-throat and deceptive than the Yu-Gi-Oh player vendors that set up shop at Regional tournaments and YCS's. They made me realize how lucrative it would be to become a card merchant.

Walking alongside my father, The power doors slid apart allowing entry into the largest and most prestigious card shop in the three surrounding cities. There were floors and floors of commons displayed in glass cases along all the walls and in isles like the cards were video games.

We hadn't made an appointment, but this shop is known for accepting walk in's of any variety and making offers on just about any cards, so we continued the climb up the levels riding escalators.

Making our way to the upstairs where the card security skyrocketed and the most alluring cards were stored in a vault with proxies holding their placeholders to show what was available to the general public.

Stopping at the counter, a shrewd elder with a salt and peppered halo adorning glasses, greeted us. His pupils peering out of his narrow fixed gaze.

"How can I help you today?" The man asked ignoring me favoring to only stare at my father.

"My son wishes to sell or trade his **Red-Eyes Darkness Metal Dragon**.

I saw the elders eyes widen at the words of the card, but carefully he held his composure trying to hide his excitement.

"Yes, yes. It is certainly a relevant card and a valuable one at that, it's a shame the ban list targeting chaos dragons has diminished its value somewhat."

"The ban list targeted their power to swarm from the grave, making Red-Eye's even more valuable. Are you sure you know your stuff old man?" I prodded aggressively.

His posture slumped a bit after hearing my words, finally appearing to give me some respect. "Oh, why yes your correct. My mistake please forgive me." He said sounding sincere, but I saw through the veil of his facade. "May I see the card in question to accurately appraise it?"

My father retrieved it from his pocket, still in it's hard protective case, lying it on the mirror that was the countertop.

"A2 Rarity card, authenticity kit please!" He shouted causing a teen to jump out of his seat and duck into the back. Moment's later he returned carrying a white case and quickly handed it to the elder.

Opening the case, I saw an assortment of tools, the ones he reached for was a black light, a magnifying glass, and an infrared scanner.

After passing several tests he ran on my card proving its authenticity, I could tell the greed in his eye's only grew.

"Yes, yes. Indeed a fine specimen. It seems to have slight wear and tear around the corner here which depreciates the value, but I can offer you 479,000 Ryo at this time, or 525,000 worth of in store credit."

My eyes' shot down to my paper in my hand locking on the several figures I penned in haste.

"—Seems like the fairest offer we've received today Ki—"

"—No deal, the holographics on this card are the rarer of the two prints. I would be willing to part with it for 615,000 Ryo." I announced with a victorious grin at the merchant.

His calculating eyes fined locked heatedly with my own.

"While, yes this is true, the wear and tear on the corner—" He started.

"—Don't try to cheat me. That wear and tear is well under the accepted norms of "Near Mint" condition. My offer stands as I made it." I said nodding at my father.

His genuine surprise at how I was dealing with the crafty merchant nearly made me crack out into a smile, but I couldn't afford such a showing as I would lose leverage in the trade if he knew how badly I wanted to get rid of it.

"While I can't offer so much cash, I can offer you 610,000 in store credit, but that is my absolute limit." He said with a defeated sigh.

_The offer was perfect, with that i should have roughly 9,000 Ryo leftover after buying all my cards here. That was acceptable._

"I agree on one stipulation…" I said ripping my appraisal values off the sheet of paper I was carrying and jamming it into my pocket. "Fetch me all of these cards on this paper and whatever is left over load onto a gift-card for me."

The man quickly snatched the paper from my hands, pushing it close to his face, turning his face with micro-movements as he scanned through it. He rung up each card on the computer, and after showing me the final price and the credit leftover, we both smiled.

"Pleasure doing business with you." I said with a grin.

"Yes, pleased to have you, young master." The man replied back with a slight twitch of his brow.

Having the cards bagged up for us, my father took possession of them until we returned to the house.

The car ride back to the house was solitary and quiet besides the hum of the automobiles engine and the occasional crack in the road.

"It was almost like you were a different person back there. Where did you learn to haggle with such grace?" My father finally asked.

_Honesty here will be key._

"I did a lot of research on the card in question I was about to sell. It is very valuable, so of course I would need to do my due diligence. I've also studied techniques of merchants because I hope to be a card merchant at school to pay for tuition so that I don't have to trouble you and mom with the bills."

The pace of the car crawled, slowing down as my father kept sneaking gazes over at me.

"You've… You've become so responsible in such a short time!" He said laughing. He slapped my back hard causing me to cough lightly. "Don't grow up all at once ya hear, you're still ma' boy, and your mother and I will figure out how to deal with the bills of Central Duel Academy. Don't worry yourself, and don't underestimate us now!"

I was adamant on not wanting to take his charity, but I figured arguing about that could wait, he was in far too great a mood to drop that on him now.

"Okay. Thanks so much, for everything." I said.

"That's what parents are for. Just count on us!"

My emotion started to defeat me. I tried to hold it all back, but the dam welling my tears back snapped causing a stream to drip down my face.

"Haha. It's alright, you're acting like it'll bankrupt us, have a bit more faith than that will you? Your old man isn't useless ya' know?"

I don't know if Kisuke cherished his lot of being gifted these wonderful specimen of parents, but I would certainly do it in his place. They were more than anything I could ask for, and I owe them everything because I took their child from them.

_I will fill his shoes and never grow complacent. I will do everything in my power to return the favor for them._ I made this vow to myself still crying.

_I'll be worthy of them. I don't care if this world is some sort of battery or whatever. I'll do everything I can because I know how futile it is. Doing nothing and everything would amount to the same in the grand scheme of things, so I might as well seize my dreams. Former competitive duelist extraordinaire, I am now Kisuke Tashiro, set to become the top ranked duelist of this reality!_

* * *

┬┴┬┴┤寸法の橋渡し├┬┴┬┴

_**A/N:**__ Like I said, if you enjoyed the story, show your support by leaving a comment stating what you either liked or disliked about this first chapter. I have a lot of ideas for the plot progression of the story, but a limited amount of time to write with. Had fun writing this first chapter, and even more dressing it up for the release today to bump up the quality. Let me know how I did and If you all would like more! _**-Zemptai Out**.


	2. Chapter 2

**Yu-Gi-Oh: Bridging The Dimensions**

* * *

**Article 2 - Chapter 2 - Choices and Consequences**

_**Warnings: I do not own Yu-Gi-Oh, it's intellectual property is owned by none other than Konami and Kazuki Takahashi. If I owned Yu-Gi-Oh - it wouldn't be as riddled with incompetant duelists, ruling errors, and ass-pull bullshit as it was. So there.**_

**-Also, still accepting Beta readers! Hit me up with a PM-**

* * *

┬┴┬┴┤_神の起源├┬┴┬┴_

_**(Last Chapter: Excerpt)**_

I don't know if Kisuke cherished his lot of being gifted these wonderful specimen of parents, but I would certainly do it in his place. They were more than anything I could ask for, and I owe them everything because I took their child from them.

_I will fill his shoes and never grow complacent. I will do everything in my power to return the favor for them._ I made this vow to myself still crying.

_I'll be worthy of them. I don't care if this world is some sort of battery or whatever. I'll do everything I can because I know how futile it is. Doing nothing and everything would amount to the same in the grand scheme of things, so I might as well seize my dreams. Former competitive duelist extraordinaire, I am now Kisuke Tashiro, set to become the top ranked duelist of this reality!_

* * *

┬┴┬┴┤ Chapter 2 ├┬┴┬┴

┬┴┬┴┤寸法の橋渡し├┬┴┬┴

The blue-white illumination of the room due to my monitor fought against the darkness.

A mug of green tea and a bag of beef jerky placating me while I scrolled through market databases with Card Values, Effects, and relevant rulings implemented into Kiaba Corp's Operating System for the Duel Disk.

My focus tightened on a column that made little sense to me. It had a numerical value but was vague about what the number was used for.

_0.731 - 3.427 - 2.174 - 0.776 - What is this? A rating from 1-5 on competitive viability? No… based on the cards… but what if the lower the number the better the card?_

I was off on a tangent becoming lost in the vast sea of information - metaphorically drowning in it.

My Deckbox sitting on the desk was practically begging me to pick it up. Calling out to me through a spiritual connection.

_-Or so I'd like to believe._

I haven't felt any resonance between the cards I chose despite the great nostalgia of ALMOST reawakening one of the very strongest, most consistent, and rightfully feared "First Turn Kill's" in my dimension's competitive environment.

FTK's are different than OTKs.

OTK's mean that you win in one turn, either going 2nd or actually taking two turns, However FTK's meant winning before your opponent even received a turn.

First Turn Kills became more phased out of my dimension's _Yu-Gi-Oh_ over time because of the unhealthy nature of ending the game before your opponent could play. Anti-competitive, meant to circumvent interacting with your actual opponent and beating them through an alternate abusible win condition.

I believe this is why Konami started creating more and more handtraps the faster and stronger decks became, However in a world revolving around Duelmonsters and the randomization that is opening hands and draws it brings, I would do anything to make a name for myself.

Degenerate strategies were not beneath me. The ban list is made to be exploited. As a duelist it's your responsibility to use every card that will increase your chances of success. Anything less wouldn't be competition, and would be counter-intuitive to someone whose goal would be to get that card banned by showing just how broken it was.

The Air conditioner kicked on, a nearby vent beating down on me with a continuous chill gust.

_My body composition doesn't ward off the cold very well. It was my enemy._

My teeth shredded the dried meat in my mouth, flavorful juice and spice elevating my eating experience.

A foot tapped the Red-brown hardwood floorboards born of my impatience.

_I Still needed 3 HUGE cards to REALLY get this deck going. I was missing arguably the biggest pieces of the deck._

I scooped up the deck box, peeling the lid off, retrieving the cards and sifting through them in my hand.

_The deck was actually unplayable in this state. _

I didn't even have secondary options to tech in at the moment. I hadn't even picked out the cards I wanted to focus on for the side deck yet as those three major cards held more weight.

It was possible to play the deck without **Dark Magician of Chaos**, but its consistency would plummet hard, and I'd still need some pricey cards to tech in anyways just not as expensive as **D.M.O.C.** The card was insanely priced - going for as much as 1,300,000 Ryo.

_That's roughly equivalent to 14,000 dollars for 1 card out of the 80 you were expected to play. Unreal. Pay to Win game._

I softly snorted at thinking how much some of the more 'Meta' cards would fetch here If I could have brought them with me.

_It was by far the most expensive target I wanted in my deck, which just meant I needed to get my money up any way possible to get a hold of these god-sent "Limited" cards which could only be played at "1" in each deck of the format._

I still needed **Giant Trunade** and the most broken card in the game of duel monsters at the moment - **Dimension Fusion**.

_Okay - on paper, __**Dimension Fusion**__ SOUNDS like it could be balanced, as both players get to special summon from their banished. But what if the card was used on the first turn before the opponent even has an opportunity to banish anything? What if the card is instantly sent back to your hand every-time it resolves bringing a __**Dark Magician of Chaos**__ back from the Banish allowing you to play it again that turn if desired? Hello?_

**Dimension Fusion** costs 2000 LP to activate, meaning unless you could add life points or mitigate the cost, you could only play the card three times. Maybe this was also an argument for the reason as to why the card wasn't banned yet, but I was sure that the card couldn't possibly maintain that "1 of" status for much longer. Even decks that didn't have "**D.M.O.C.**"still could get GREAT value out of the card. It was just too good.

_I'll abuse it as long as I can, but first I need to get a copy... Then I can start doing Ante Duels and entering tournaments to receive prize cards, money, and booster packs._

Unwilling to fight against the smirk spreading across my face, I realized I should at least have an idea for the 15 cards I would put in my side-deck.

"_Burst-Stream Chrome"_ was a Kiaba Corp engineered public browser similar to that of Google Chrome.

In the search bar I typed "Duel Monsters 2022 Tournament Top Decks."

I'd need to scout my competition to see what they were running and siding to really begin to design the Side Deck.

_Chaos Dragons - 5 Headed Turbo - Pure Lightsworn - Chaos Dragons - DAD Return - Macro Gadgets - Dark Gaia OTK - DAD Return..._

I recognized several of the decks on the list. Clicking on a deck-list on DAD Return to study, I spit my drink I had been sipping onto the screen and keyboard of shock.

_What?! WHAT THE FUCK?_

_**...**_

_**Main Deck: 40**_

_**Extra Deck: ?**_

_**Side Deck: 40**_

_**...**_

It made zero sense. I mean I can understand that there wasn't currently any Extra Deck restriction as to why there wasn't any information on it on any of the other pages even as I searched, but the anomaly of the Side Deck containing basically an entire 2nd deck of cards you could side in was BONKERS. I couldn't wrap my mind around it honestly.

Duel Monsters isn't the same game. Might use the same cards, with similar rules, but it is not the same as the game I remembered.

I had to pull up ViewTube to inspect Pro Circuit Matches.

A typical casual game of Duel Monsters is played with only your Deck and Extra Deck, but a Match, no matter whether its a best of 3 or 5, allows Siding to take place between each game.

In my world, 15 cards was barely enough to sub in enough hate for bad match ups and top tier strategy. A Side Deck with the size to a potentially alternate deck to swap between sounded insane despite the unlikelihood of that strategy being optimal, the idea alone was entirely new concept for me.

I watched the current world champion careful to make mental notes. His card responses were swift and decisive. In this reality, although he was noticeably older, he still played the same Destiny Hero Engine, but now was obviously a **Dark Armed Dragon** variant.

Aster Phoenix was a monster. He dismantled his opponent game after game, only conceding 1 game of the best of 5 because he bricked.

I noticed that between each duel, he shuffled his Main and Side Deck together, then ripped cards from the deck one by one back to his Side Deck.

_That way, the opponent has no idea how many cards he's siding. He's monopolizing information! Clever. With a 40 card Side Deck, that strategy was very impactful. I need to copy him! I need to take any techniques or knowledge as my own to improve. _

_To become the very best! - Like Ash Ketchum never was. _

**-Red was a superior trainer. Don't agree? - Fight me-**

"3 - 1 Victory for Aster Phoenix! He's done it again folks! He's claimed his Three-pete - three consecutive World Championship victories! Chazz Princeton storms offstage, the defeat must sting as he continues to be second fiddle to the Champ." The announcer exclaimed.

The crowd was enamored and absolutely wild with celebration.

The shouts and songs of the fans stirring my heart. Excitement was racing through me at the thought of duels at that level. Exhibitions on the same level as professional sports in person but for a card game. The idea was paradoxical in nature despite witnessing it through this video.

"I've got a lot of work to do…"

* * *

┬┴┬┴┤寸法の橋渡し├┬┴┬┴

Kisuke was expected to accomplish certain tasks most mornings to my understanding, but I was now in charge of these things instead.

Having finished the medial chores I left my parents with the knowledge that I'd be going over to Kiabaland to playtest my deck.

_This information is a bit of a fib._

With a bag strapped to my back and the wind to my face, I jogged down the sidewalk.

Buildings past in an unfocused blur due to my deplorable physical fitness level. I was panting and regretting not bothering to remember to bring water with me, sweat dripping down my forehead into my eyes burning them with conditioner residue.

A local family-owned Card-shop and Supply store named "Quick Draw" peaked past the corner of one of the many buildings in Domino City.

Traffic horns blared in a sarcastic song of beautiful mutual understanding of us as people.

_Like in my last world, the majority are intolerant shits._ I've come to the conclusion that if I expect nothing from anyone else that my hopes can never get crushed. _Everything that happens is inherently more pleasant in comparison to the pessimist's envisioned worst case scenario._

People were shoulder to shoulder at this point in the city waiting for the crosswalk still blinking red in caution.

waiting through the crowd, and making my way over to the buildings entrance, I stepped into the shop instinctively feeling my pockets through my pants with my palms.

The boy had a wallet I found in his dresser under some socks. I figured this too would now be considered my property.

A mechanical and cheery _beep-boop_ rung out after entering the shop, RFID gates at the doors placed where they were undoubtedly for theft prevention despite being a hot place to mount advertisements.

The counter girl smiled at me waving me over sheepishly.

_Uhh? Does she know me? Why does she look so happy to see me?_

The brunette hair fell to her lips. Her eyes distorted behind a pair of academic glasses. Those eyes pinched together, and although I scanned the environment for trade binders - but noticed her occasionally stealing glances at me.

_I'm a meh tall twig boy who looked like he could get knocked over by the wind. There's no way this girl is meeting me for the first time… FUCK._

_I recognized her faintly? Why? Do I have Kisuke's old memories dormant within me somehow?_

Despite believing this reality as nothing more than a fuel cell for aliens or higher life, that explanation just didn't seem plausible. _No, It's got to be something else..._

_The family photo album! Oh and that picture in my room. It's this girl and that guy. Apparently Aketo and Kisuke had some promise? Are we engaged? Does she need me to swing through and lay the pipe?_

"Kisuke!"

A feminine voice broke me from my internal debate, awkwardly refocusing on the girl who approached me in my indecision.

"You know Aketo - uhh how do I say this-"

"=Yeah he's a bonehead, but he's a good friend regardless. The best we've got anyways - huh?" She said fidgeting around.

She was cute in an awkward shy girl who's comfortable around you brand of adorable.

_I don't have many baselines to go off of but at least now I know she is not Aketo._

"Oh, I think WE" I said, signaling between her and myself with my hands. "WE could be better friends."

Her brow dipped down. Her expression changed from confused to critical.

"You're going to some private duel school with Aketo while I'm just a cashier normie who doesn't aspire to be anything special. We would never work."

"What do you mean? Don't you get excited about anything? Nothing you do makes you want to be really good at it?"

"Sometimes, I think you speak a different language than me I swear." She giggled playfully knocking her shoulder into mine.

Disturbingly I was knocked around by the girl fairly easily.

"But I guess falling for you wouldn't be **IMPOSSIBLE**."

Her grin warmed my heart.

_Now I need to know this girls name._

"Still no name-tag?" I poked curiously and vaguely.

"Hm?" She hummed looking down to her chest. Thankful for an excuse, my eyes followed suit.

She patted down her hoodie pocket pulling out a tag and pinning it to her collared dress-shirt. "Oh, thanks. Forgot to put it back on after break. You're a life-saver sometimes ya' know?"

_Clerk - Yumiko_

_Alright, nice milestone, but now for what you came here for…_

"So… I need some trade-binders."

* * *

┬┴┬┴┤寸法の橋渡し├┬┴┬┴

With a backpack full of empty trade binders, I needed to establish a brand for myself. I needed to be greater than an individual in the eyes of the public.

_Once someone has socially proofed you and you pass the eye test, people don't mind giving you their money as much._

"Yeah I'm looking for as many Monster's as you can to fit between the text." I said.

"We could simply make the whole shirt and hoodie package a graphic with monsters everywhere and then do a negative so the text is cut from the pictures."

I had made my way down the street stopping at a custom clothing designer to advertise myself as a Trader/Vendor. The man behind the counter used his hands to draw out his vision in the air, but I was more or less lost with what he was talking about.

_I just wanted to get it done to start making money honestly._

"... -Okay!?" The man finished his rant.

"Uh? Yeah - that sounds fine. When will I be able to pick it up?"

"Just the one set?"

"Better make it two, just to be safe."

_It was more cost effective that way anyways. 3000 Ryo for one set, 4250 Ryo for two, and who knows, could expand and create a uniform for my employee's if I get a few._

"4-6 Hours."

The man nodded sagely, his hands resting on his waist.

* * *

┬┴┬┴┤寸法の橋渡し├┬┴┬┴

A butch curvy girl with black curly glossy locks which fell halfway down her back stared at me from behind the glass display-cases. She had a little face making her eyes appear larger by comparison. She wore a company tee with black tights. Her arm had tattoos of weapons ranging from knives to guns.

"So, is there a law on how long they can be?"

_She's probably in her late teens or early twenties i'd guess._

"A concealed blade cannot exceed 4 inches in length from the end of the handle to the tip of the blade. If this one isn't big enough for you then all I can give you is something with a bigger handle."

The carbon fiber and steel knives captivated me. I wanted something stealthy, easy to flip open in a rush, but big enough to make someone think twice about fucking with me. I needed to protect my merchandise and some 80 pound twig appearance isn't going to keep the fiends at bay.

_I won't be taking __**ANY L's. NONE!**__ A Sharks mentality to get his own is all that I was left with. These cards for trade and play are my livelihood. I won't let anyone take from me. I know how this shit works._

"Do you have a blade like this one, but with a longer more narrow handle?" I asked the employee.

She scoffed, flicking her neck to sway the hair out of her face, her lips pulled together in a frown.

"Fuck kid, I've been on break for 20 minutes and I'll never get my smoke if you make me sort through every knife in inventory."

"Take your break then. Mind if I join you?"

The woman's mouth dropped open but quickly set back into place. She turned her head side to side questionably before leading me out of the entrance, lowering the security gate and locking the door, then tugging on my arm leading me into the alleyway.

She flipped out a pack of black and mild cigarettes with an unrecognizable logo.

"I don't really smoke stogies… I smelled that good shit on you earlier."

The girls eyes lit up.

"Never caught your name."

"Cuz I never said it." I said cheekily.

Opening her pack, she pulled out a blackened, _'rezzed'_ out glass one hitter.

"I feel like I misjudged you. To make it up to you I'll let you hit this… but you have to do something for me first."

"Ye~ah?" I said, my voice cracking annoyingly at an inopportune time.

She giggled. I felt self-aware, but in the end, who was this girl? It didn't matter.

She leaned in close, closer than I expected. The warmth and dampness of her breath on my ear nearly made me shudder.

"_Tell me your name._"

It was a whisper, yet a firm demand.

"I'm everything you're looking for." I said with a wink.

Her sassy smile only grew. I could tell she was nowhere near solving me. I was still a challenge and she was enjoying the puzzle.

"Fine then!" she huffed butt-hurt. "You don't get to hit my pipe."

She turned away from me, a closed eyelid slid open slightly pretending not to be gauging my reaction - but I could tell she was.

"Fine, I'll be sure to have you check every knife handle in the damn store."

That got her attention.

"You are such an **ASS**."

I could tell she wasn't really getting upset, but all the same, our little game was getting boring now and I just wanted to get high.

"I'm Kisuke the Ass." I said pinching her black tight encased thigh.

Slapping my hand away playfully, she lifted the one hitter to her mouth and sparked the lighter.

The flame met the pipes end, the nostalgic burning smell, the grey twisting and curving clouds dissipating from the area being shot out from her lips. Her hand scooted closer to me, and she successfully passed on the baton to yours truly.

_This is exactly what I need._

_I noticed a dab of her lipstick was left on the mouth of the pipe. Our eyes met, I wasn't certain, but I could have sworn she smiled seeing her lipstick._

Unabashedly I stuck the pipe in my mouth and lit it, choking the pipe with the lighter.

The warm haze came in rough. My lungs fought me the entire way, they didn't want it and were trying to reject it, but it doesn't understand how great THC is yet.

I coughed and hacked a bit, passing the pipe back with care not to let it slip out of my hand.

Despite knowing that I wasn't as stoned as I was going to get, I could tell I was already high and I was only one hit in so far.

_The familiar dulling of everything... It was fantastic._

The speed the world always twisted felt like it was trying to throw me off. Like it was the bull and I was the rider. It only ever slowed down to a tolerable level when I was so intoxicated that I was braindead.

"Strawberry lipstick?" I asked trying to make conversation.

Her hand fell on mine, shifting weight on it and trying to squeeze her fingers between my own.

Her big glassy pinkening eyes were alluring. They were telling me that they wanted something from me.

"...Want to taste and find out?"

_Eh… Fuck it._

I gripped a hand behind her neck, pulling her hand folded in mine into my chest. Our faces nearing.

I watched her turn one way, so I turned the other. Her eyes never closed.

I didn't want to look like a 'sleeper zombie' - so I closed my eyes.

I could feel her…

Watching... Waiting…

_How long could I leave her in that state? In the perilous state between anticipation and her expectations._

Our lips were incredibly close. I knew by the feeling of hot air from her nostrils, intentionally stopping just short of her lips.

_..._

I pushed her neck towards me, our lips meeting.

_They were soft._

I forced them apart with my own, taking the opportunity to suck on her top lip.

Honestly, My throat hurts a bit too much to go HAM, but I wasn't going to pass on it or cut it short because of something so insignificant.

Her slippery slimy tongue grazed mine. It was like lightning in a bottle - it electrified me.

She barely prodded me and made quick retreats each time.

_Was she challenging me to some ghetto 'mouth tag' or is she just teasing me._

My blood pumped in my temple now throbbing.

I swirled the tip of my tongue under and over hers.

She pulled back with a slight cough ending the kiss, a singular strand of saliva stretched between our retreating lips before disconnecting.

"Your interesting..."

"Yeah? You too. What's your name?"

"I don't kiss and tell." She said in mock frivolity.

"Fine, but next time we meet I'm getting that name."

Cocking her head to the side, she gave me a questioning glance.

"Next time? Who says there'll be a next time?"

"There'll be a next time if I bother to come back-"

"-Sure there will." she said sarcastically - taking the opportunity to lift the pipe back to her mouth and hit it.

I proceeded to hit the pipe a few more times in rotation.

_Minutes, hours, days?_

Time seemed to be lost in my intoxicated stupor.

"You okay kid?" I heard.

It was difficult to keep still. My head was tilting all over the place, and based on the woman's expression she was probably worried about me. It was like gravity was hitting me from weird angles and I constantly needed to re-adjust myself to compensate.

"You look FUCKED up."

"I'm high AS SHIT." I said nodding.

I probably looked like I was in special education how I was acting now, but my zero tolerance paired with my reckless abandon was likely the culprit.

"You gonna be okay?" she asked in concern.

Still perpetually re-adjusting myself, I smiled. "Yeah no biggie."

_Another lie. Getting home would be difficult in this state._

"Okay, I gotta get back to the shop. Want to get that knife?"

I was in no state to decide what knife I wanted. More than anything I craved pasta and despite only being noon - my mattress, but I wasn't in an acceptable state to get food or return home.

"Nah, I had fun but I'm going to chill for a bit. I'll swing through later."

"Alright, my shift ends at 5:00pm."

I don't know how, but in my incoherent state I still noticed her grip on her wrist. The only shy body language of hers I could remember.

"Hopefully I make it back in time. Thanks for smo-"

"-Yup. Don't mention it." She said cheerfully.

I wandered away into the nearby Domino Park finding a hammock suspended from a tree and crawling inside.

From my pocket, I retrieved my smartphone and watched VODs of Pro Circuit duels.

* * *

┬┴┬┴┤寸法の橋渡し├┬┴┬┴

I already retrieved my clothing and knife from their respective shops despite missing the nameless girl on shift. I had fallen asleep on the hammock in a groggy delirium.

My anxiety which had been building and building since arriving in this world finally vanished.

_I already came down for the most part._

I separated the Trade Binders into Monsters 1 & 2 - Spells 1 & 2 - Traps 1 & 2 - and Extra Deck monsters which currently was only Fusions. My seven binders would do the heap of cards set before me justice.

Little by little I slid each card into where I assessed was their right binder with duplicates next to each other for ease.

The medial taskwork keeping me busy as I listened to music over my monitor speakers.

I found it curious that the music of this world had A LOT of the same songs of my world. That being said, there were plenty of songs I had never heard of, many inspired by the sport of dueling.

I found it funny that Rap music had as many references to the "King of Games" embedded in them as they did.

* * *

┬┴┬┴┤寸法の橋渡し├┬┴┬┴

Over the next 5 days I spent every day at "Kiabaland Arenas" and local dueling hotspots clothed in my custom branded attire promoting that I was a trader.

The easiest to swindle out of value were the desperate and ill informed.

Unfortunately, more times than not, that also meant they were kids. Reasoning this to myself, I excused my actions by saying that I was teaching them valuable lessons for the future.

I had gotten several GREAT deals over the week trading up to a play-set of **Return from the Different Dimension**'s and that's not including the one I got from the premier card shop I traded **Red-eye's** at. It wouldn't be used in my main deck after I got my hands on the other cards, and one of them was before my eyes.

"**I ALWAYS DRAW THIS SHIT WHEN I DON'T HAVE ENOUGH LIFE POINTS TO USE IT. IT BLOWS FAT COCK." **the boy howled.

_This is my opportunity!_

"Yeah. The card has a steep activation requirement. You might get more consistency playing more **Return from the Different Dimension**s. You can half your life points at any time, and it can be used for defense or offense."

My words sounded good, but I hoped it was enough to convince him into making a trade. He had what I wanted, and before the day was over I'd own that card.

"...That makes sense." He said.

_You have way more money than sense._

"How many **R.F.D.D**'s do you have?" I asked.

"Only One. My uncle says running more might brick my hands."

"If you have any reliable way to banish cards, that is simply not true. The card is too good and shouldn't even be allowed to be at "3" currently. You should take advantage of this opportunity to run it while you can."

"So what? My **Dimensional Fusion** for two of your **Return's**?"

I couldn't show my excitement. This trade had GREAT value for me. It probably would make this kids deck better considering he didn't have **Dark Magician of Chaos**. So in that respect, it's kinda like a win-win for both of us - erm well mostly me.

I pretended to think about it. Like I wasn't sure that it was a good deal.

"Hmm…"

"I'll throw in a **D.D. Crow** to sweeten the pot, how about that?" He asked.

"Alright. You've got yourself a deal." I said extending my hand towards him.

We shook on it, then made the trade.

My heart pumped in my chest as now all the time I invested here was worth it.

_I could actually play the deck even if the main strategy was impossible without __**D.M.O.C.**__ The deck wasn't the best, but it was still strong enough to abuse most decks in my opinion._

I stared at the **Dimensional Fusion** in my hand for a while, then pulled out the extra copy of **R.F.D.D **and added both of them to my current deck.

"Your that autistic kid that always just comes to watch duels aren't you?"

I overheard those words, but thought nothing of it, that is until I was poked on my back from behind.

"Retard, Do you think you're some businessman now that you are trading and have your own shirt?

The blonde cocky little shit was staring right at me, a group I recognized as his clan which was often here from afternoon to night was crowded around him, circling around both of us.

My hand reached for my pocket, grabbing the metal heft inside. The action soothed my unease of being surrounded.

"Oooo Scary! What have you got there? You looking for a fight dweeb?"

He pulled out a set of brass knuckles grinning maliciously.

"I'm looking for a du~el." I said confidently despite my voice cracking.

_Puberty is a bitch._

"Yeah? HA! You'd be even more outmatched if we dueled. You don't have a chance." He said, spitting at my feet.

This angsty little shit elitist was seriously pissing me off.

_I'd wipe the floor with him. It will be a slaughter._

"You must be way more confident in ganging up on people than your dueling skill if your declining."

_I'd like to think I knew how to press people's buttons._

"Yeah? Loser gets a free full force punch on the other" He said flexing his brass knuckles again. "-And it's gonna hurt, I promise."

"Fine, I'll knock your ass out like a home-run."

"Bitch - Arena 1 - **NOW**."

* * *

┬┴┬┴┤寸法の橋渡し├┬┴┬┴

My duel disk was retrieved from my backpack, and I brought my backpack with me at my feet sure that no'one else could nab it while I was distracted with the duel before me.

"**Single Game - 8000 Life Points. Duelist's ready?"** A mechanical voice boomed throughout the arena.

It was packed, probably because of the attention we caused over our confrontation. Either way, the crowd was psyched to watch.

"**KC Single's Stats: 211 Wins - 89 Losses - Viktor Hitoshima - Platinum Rated Duelist Vs. 6 Wins - 29 Losses Kisuke Tashiro - Bronze Rated Duelist." **The arena blasted out of the overhead speakers.

"**WOW! You suck even harder than I thought!" **He yelled from across the field. **"Easy clap this time everybody."**

I was embarrassed to have such a despicable record. It left a putrid taste in my mouth.

_But I'd correct that soon enough._

**DICE ROLL!**

I tapped a button on the duel disk which projected a dice rolling and Viktor did the same. I won the dice roll with a six, but despite that, both because my deck was incomplete and I knew that Viktor was a Monarch player, I made my choice.

"I'll go 2nd!"

"Yeah? Behind me your whole life huh? Must be rough."

"Just go."

We both drew our starting hand, and in this iteration of duel monsters, the first turn player still draws a card.

"I normal summon **Swap Frog** _(__**ATK:1000 - DEF:500)**_activating its effect to ditch Treeborn Frog from my deck to my he'll sauce on you and leave."

The yellow-red amphibian was ejected from the field back to Viktors hand.

The Duel Disk blinked saying **END PHASE.**

_Really? He sent it back to his hand? No spell or Traps? Does he think I can't OTK him right now?_

My lips pulled together into a grin. Elation flowed through me at the opportunity to curbstomp a duelist with a modicum of skill.

"I draw!"

I pressed the Main Phase 1 button on my duel disk.

"You'll need it Bronzie."

I slapped my spell card **Destiny Draw** into a spell/trap slot quickly discarding **Destiny Hero - Disk Commander** to the grave and drawing two cards.

"Leave it to a bronzie to think Drawing is more important than knowing the fundamentals of the game."

His group of duelist behind him cheered and sneered at me from the back stands.

_**Dimension Fusion**__. Hello sweet busted card._

I took it and set it face down in a spell/trap zone.

"Now I play the spell card **Premature Burial** by paying 800 lifepoints and reviving **Disk Commander** \- drawing 2.

A miniature silvery robotic man not much taller than a foot and a half appeared with light reflecting disk's reminiscent of DVD optical discs and crackling lightning.

**(LP - Kisuke: 7200 - Viktor: 8000)**

I activated **Upstart Goblin** allowing me to draw again.

**(LP - Kisuke: 7200 - Viktor: 9000)**

"Next I play the spell card **Card Destruction** forcing us to discard-"

"-I know what it does dweeb. Unlike you, I'm not fully retarded."

_I discarded 5 - redrawing 5, and by my count he should have redrawn 6._

"Any handtraps you thought might save you are gone, aren't they?" I shouted.

On the LED screen of the Duel Disk, I could see a Battle Fader along with the other 6 cards in his graveyard.

"You must think your pretty smart or pretty lucky, but I run PLENTY of hand traps. So come attack me pussy."

_Why would he say that? There wouldn't be value in saying that unless he's lying… but Frog Monarchs don't like backrow so I mean it makes sense he'd run handtraps. Swift Scarecrows, Gorz, D.D. Crow, and Battle Fader were really the only handtraps that are relevant so fuck it._

I play **Reinforcements of the Army** _freeing_ my nigga **Elemental Hero - Stratos **_(__**ATK:1800 - DEF:300)**_from my deck to my hand then I Normal Summon him.

The meme didn't seem to resonate with the crowd, instead I got blank stares.

"I search **Destiny Hero - Dogma** to my hand with **Strato's** Effect - then used **Trade-In** to discard him drawing 2 more cards."

"At this point you might as well run Exodia, you'd probably win more than 6 games out of 35 then." he taunted.

I ignored him.

_I'll shut him up with my play._

"I play Allure of Darkness drawing 2 cards."

"We get it - your bronze - You think drawing your whole deck is good, We've got such a _SKILLED_ player over here."

I banished my Battle Fader from my hand because of **Allure of Darkness**.

"**Reinforce-**"_ments of the Army_

"Shut up and just do your turn already. Your not putting on a show, your playing like you have down syndrome - Banishing a Battle Fader **L-O-L**."

I grabbed the monster **Dark Grepher **then activated yet another **Upstart Goblin** allowing me to draw 1 more.

**(LP - Kisuke: 7200 - Viktor: 10000)**

_My hand? After sifting through about 25 or more cards out of my deck, it was AMAZING._

"I Special Summon** Dark Grepher **_(__**ATK:1700 - DEF:600 )**_from my hand in** ATK mode **by discarding a Dark Monster over level 5.**"**

The humanoid figure materialized. His snow white hair flowing mimicking the magnetic winds duels cause. His skin was blackened and he clutched a long broadsword. The red slits of light that were his eyes were menacing.

"Why are you announcing everything you do? I can see it all on my Duel Disk?"

"-Then I banish two Dark monsters from the Graveyard to Activate the other **Dark Nephthys** from my hand Discarding itself.

"Do you teach lessons for the other special ED. kids?"

_This guy is legitimately making me salty. I can't wait to watch him squirm._

"-AND NOW - I ACTIVATE MY FACE DOWN **DIMENSION FUSION **paying 2000 lifepoints-"

**(LP - Kisuke: 5200 - Viktor: 10000)**

"**-**Special summoning **Darklord Zerato** _**(ATK:2800 - DEF:2300) **_and** Dark Nephthys**_(__**ATK:2400 - DEF:1600). **_The summon effect of **Dark Nephthys** isn't optional, meaning it must destroy a spell/trap if available, even if it's my own.

**Zerato** was humongous inside the arena, towering halfway to the ceiling were the rafters started. His great reddened black wings ripped the air around us into a frenzy, causing me to clutch at my cards tighter. Another Winged creature which resembled more of an hellish butterfly appeared at his side.

**Premature Burial** was destroyed and sent to the grave along with my **Destiny Hero - Disk Commander.**

His field was barren, but I had four monsters. I was ready for Battle.

_Okay… so he could have a __**Gorz the Emissary of Darkness**__ in hand with those 6 cards, but __**Darklord Zerato**__ has 100 more attack than him, I'll hold him for last._

I tapped my Duel Disk moving into the Battle Phase.

"**Dark Grepher** Direct Attack." _-1700_

_Response?_

**(LP - Kisuke: 5200 - Viktor: 8300)**

_Okay? Probably no Swift Scarecrow and likely Battle Fader this turn too, unless his plan is to tribute it._

"**Elemental Hero - Stratos** Direct Attack." _-1800_

**(LP - Kisuke: 5200 - Viktor: 6500)**

"**Dark Nephthys** Direct Attack." _-2400_

**(LP - Kisuke: 5200 - Viktor: 4100)**

I decided not to attack with my last monster as to perhaps avoid a hand trap I was expecting.

"I'll set a face-down and _let_ you have a turn."

I could tell whatever I had done pissed him off by the frown he now wore.

I saw on my Duel Disk the Phases swap from **DRAW** to **STANDBY** triggering **Treeborn Frog**'s effect summoning it in Defense.

"Now that your turns over, I play Enemy Controller tributing Treeborn Frog to steal **Darklord Zerato"**

_Well - He-_

"**-AND I USE HIS EFFECT! YOU HEAR THAT - OR ARE YOU DEAF TOO?"**

I saw **Calus the Shadow Monarch** appear in his Graveyard.

_Noooooooooooooooooo my board!_

All my monsters vanished in a dark pulse sweeping over all my monster zones shattering the holograms.

**Darklord Zerato** also disappeared - which wasn't in the card effect at all, but in his place rose a green armored monster. The wind in the room shifted, and a gust flew at my back row, forcing me to return it to the top of my deck.

_Well… that's a little annoying._

**Raiza the Storm Monarch (**_**ATK:2400 - DEF:1000) **_was staring me down having been tribute summoned and clearing my only Trap card. My field had just been completely emptied.

_Unlucky._

A water monster appeared in his graveyard and an aquatic yellow, orange, and red frog appeared.

"Special Summon - **Swap Frog** **(**_**ATK:1000 - DEF:500)**_ in_** ATK mode**_\- Sending **Ronintoadin** from the deck to the Graveyard and because I discarded **Dupe Frog** I can add a **Treeborn Frog** to my hand."

_It wasn't nearly enough._

I clenched the single card in my hand tighter.

**BATTLE PHASE -** My duel Disk alerted me.

"Raiza - Get him!" _-2400_

**(LP - Kisuke: 2800 - Viktor: 4100)**

The **Swap Frog **spat bubbles toward me which connected. _-1000_

**(LP - Kisuke: 1800 - Viktor: 4100)**

Viktor was loving it over there. His whole posse was erupting in praise having turned the tables on me in no time at all.

**END PHASE**

"Here's your favorite part of the game. Time to draw - I wonder what your gonna get?!" He erupted into a snorting laughing fit.

_It was true, He Raiza locked me out for a turn. The way he applauded himself about it sickens me._

I drew entering my turn.

**STANDBY PHASE** \- I special summon **Dark Nephthys**_(__**ATK:2400 - DEF:1600) **_in attack mode from the Graveyard with his effect.

The familiar hell butterfly like creature oozing black smog fluttered its blood red wings in aggression.

_Since there were no Spell/Traps on the field, Dark Nephthys effect doesn't activate._

**BATTLE PHASE**

"**Dark Nephthys **attack** Raiza the Storm Monarch!"**

They suicided into each other - both having **2400 ATK**, They shattered into light leaving the field.

Next I set the Trap I re-drew face down on the field than fingered a button on my Duel Disk.

**END PHASE**

"HAHAHAHAHAH Quality Gameplay mate."

He drew, then a **Treeborn Frog** appeared in attack mode on his field.

"I banish one **Swap Frog** from my grave to special summon **Ronintoadin** **(**_**ATK:100 - DEF:2000)**_

The Cyan blue tattooed frog appearing but suddenly vanished alongside **Treeborn Frog**.

"But my frogs won't be sticking around. Now I tribute summon **Light and Darkness Dragon**!" he said overjoyed.

I had no response to his summon...

"Anytime you would activate an effect, now its negated. Nice try idiot."

**Battle Phase**

The Fearsome Draconic beast gathered a black smog and blinding light within its mouth, unleashing a torrent of chaos energy toward me.

This was it, I didn't have a choice At least I baited him into the battle phase..

"Battle Fader!" I said Summoning him with his effect from my hand in defense mode.

"**NEGATED IDIOT!"**

The** Battle fader **shattered into pieces entering my grave.

_**Light and Darkness Dragon**__ can't negate chain links higher than its ability, so-_

"I'm not done yet! I Activate **Return from the Di-**"

The attack connected. _-2300_

**(LP - Kisuke: 0 - Viktor: 4100)**

"Wha?"

"He doesn't even know how to time Chain-links properly. The dude is legit BRONZE. **CYA IDIOT!** come get this fist." he said shaking his hand devilishly.

No way… I should have still had a turn to play. I waited until he attacked with **Light and Darkness Dragon** so that it would create a replay and he had to attack with it instead of the 1000 ATK Swap frog.

The Battle Fader that would have been summoned from **R.F.D.D** would have bought me another turn… What would my next draw have been?

Flipping the card over, it was the spell card **The Beginning of the End**. A way to banish 5 dark monsters and draw 3 cards… but it would have been negated by Viktor's dragon.

_**FUCK! FUCK! FUCK!**_

I was pissed. So SALTY. Incredibly upset.

_**I bet **__**that cocky bitch will NEVER forget this**__**.**_

_I missed my timing because I was too slow to chain my card before the chain resolved. I wondered how that would happen through the Duel Disk… but that means that there's some timing to it… OH MY GOD, is that what that row of numbers was on the website? The amount of seconds until the chain resolves after playing the card? _

_**THAT LITERALLY CHANGES EVERYTHING.**_

_This game is not Yu-Gi-Hh. The focus wasn't primarily on Deck-building because you didn't have infinite time to think and resolve plays. If this is true, your put on a clock after every effect, meaning that this card game was more like a screwed up version of Blitz Chess but for Yu-Gi-Oh._

This game is called "Duel Monsters." Don't confuse the two, they are not one and the same.

"So… that means its a race to resolve effects and you already need to have your responses thought out in advance… The defensive player is at a disadvantage because they were required to time their cards and effects correctly, while the person who took the initiative to start the chain was attacking the duelist's tempo." I whispered.

"You alright over there _Special_ Ed?"

_The very concept is fascinating but my loss stung so hard as the cost of this new knowledge._

"**Winner: 212 Wins - 89 Losses - Viktor Hitoshima - Platinum Rated Duelist."**

"**Loser: 6 Wins - 30 Losses - Kisuke Tashiro - **_**Demoted**_** to Wood Rated Duelist."**

"You heard that right? Everyone here knows your a Loser!"

"WOOD TIER, WOOD TIER, WOOD TIER" His clan started a chant which the audience quickly picked up on.

"Bro it was a single, shit happens." I said clenching my teeth together at the end.

"6 Wins, 30 Losses and he hasn't figured out he's the reason he loses. Ouch - Einstein over here pleads insanity. Better _**LUCK**_ next time though - right everybody!?"

The crowd erupted into laughter.

The raised platforms we stood on lowered with mechanical whirring.

He's going to clobber me, but I was determined not to run from it. If I showed weakness, they would keep coming back, so instead I wouldn't let them seek me, I would find them.

Slinging my backpack across my body and onto my shoulder, I walked straight up to Viktor as he was having a laugh with his clan, his back towards me explaining something with his hands.

"Alright, let's get this over with so we can run that back." I said.

He stopped mid sentence of whatever he was saying, glancing over his shoulder in astonishment.

"I - What? You still haven't had enough?" His face full of disbelief.

"Mechanical mistake, everyone fucks up, so let's run it again."

"You're no challenge. There's a reason you only play TAG team duels - it's because you have to get carried by Aketo, that's the only reason your anything at all. Go be Aketo's shadow and suck him dry for all I care. He just loses potential every year he keeps trying to "play" with you. Your a parasite in real life. You should just leave. Find a different hobby."

_Wow… _

I didn't have anything to say to that. I stared blankly at him not believing that I was really here in this moment. Time encouraging me to accept this reality.

I nodded at him, very confused and awkwardly I turned to leave.

After arriving outside Arena 1's exit, a shouting voice called out but I ignored it.

The mumble of duelists talking about the match I had just participated in was all around me.

"The wood tier guy didn't seem that awful - too bad he was against Viktor or it looked like a lot of his plays woulda panned out better-"

"-He was garbage, did you see his Win / Loss? Pshhhht."

"Was he actually mentally handicapped? That's just what I heard anyways - but then why was he playing chain-link cards in the first place?"

"Retards inherently don't need to make sense."

"-That's terrible! It's not their faults Alex! They were **BORN** that way. How can you be so insensitive."

Every time someone recognized me as I walked past, despite most have been in mid sentence shit talking me, they flashed me smiles, thumbs ups, and even cheers.

"Nice try. Better luck next time!"

_Do they think I can't tell the difference between sarcasm and empathy? These were the fakest praise I'd ever been given. If anything I feel worse about myself._

"Perfect 80 IQ plays bro. Way to represent~!"

It was so strange. Never in all my years had I ever imagined anything like this ever happening, even after being transported here.

_My match had instantly become a Meme, and I was the butt of the joke. Is this some type of sick karma for bullying kids when I grew up the first time? I mean, I really only bullied kids that had it coming to them, but who was I to judge that?_

"_-There's a reason you only play TAG team duels-"_

"What does that even mean?" I whispered.

The lobby was three stories high with escalators to help transition between layers with a food court on the 3rd floor. A giant banner stretched overhead saying "The Legacy of the Dragon" in silver etching.

I saw a row of flat screen computers lined up in a row across a long wall inside the huge lobby. Above them was the word "Stat-bots"

One of the machines were free, the OS reminding me of a windows tablet outlay.

"Scan your Kiabaland ID"

Reaching for the plastic card encased in a sleeve strung around my neck, and squatting down to scan it, the machine beeped.

"Welcome Duelist!"

The screen transitioned to a menu with options.

_**Rating - History - Settings - Withdraw - Deposit**_

My hand reached out tapping the screen.

"**Rating!"**

**...**

(Rating System)

_*Wood - Bronze - Silver - Gold - Platinum - Diamond*_

_**Singles: Wood - 887 ELO - 6W / 30L / 0D**_

_**Match: Bronze - 1132 ELO - 44W / 56L / 0D**_

_**Tag(Match) Gold - 1711 ELO - 344W / 289L / 7D**_

**...**

_Wow… This kid's Tag-Team record is actually decent. Is this what Victor was talking about? He doesn't think I've earned my Tag-Team rank?_

A hand squeezed my shoulder, my hand reflexively reaching for my knife.

"Woah there - Buddy! - It's just me." a panicked voice exclaimed.

Before me was a short but stout teen, dark brown hair buzzed short. He didn't look very athletic, but his bone structure left him looking thicker and wider than normal.

I recognized the boy from the photo.

"Aketo." I said under my breath.

"Damn man, you have a knife on you now? What happened?"

"Uh… I started trading cards so I figured I could use a little protection."

"I can't believe Viktor is still butthurt I never joined his stupid _**AAA Clan**_. I'll get him back for you~"

"No - I'll get him back later… Hey, can I see your Win/Loss record?"

He narrowed his eyes but quickly returned to normal.

"That loss really shook you up huh? But thats what makes dueling so fun. Sometimes your opponent just gets so far ahead no one expects you to come back, but then you try even harder and get the 'dub anyways."

I wanted to put my head through a wall. Anything to stop talking about that single.

"~Okay fine, here step aside." he said, the machine beeping as he slid his ID over the scanner."

_**Rating - History - Settings - Withdraw - Deposit - Contact Agent**_

_Contact Agent? Is that an option unlocked by being a higher rated player?_

"**Rating!"**

…

**Aketo Kenma**

_**Singles: Gold - 1688 ELO - 155W / 143L / 0D**_

_**Match: Platinum - 1844 ELO - 216W / 156L/ 2D**_

_**Tag(Match): Platinum - 1811 ELO - 413W / 381L / 6D**_

…

_I'm this guys tag team partner? It looks like this guy was better than Kisuke was, so why were they a team?_

"I finally got back into platinum in Matches again, and If i can stay in platinum in Tag, I'm sure that you and me can go to a high level school as a duo. You and me - we'll be the best."

"..."

I didn't know what to say to that. I figured now probably wasn't the best time to tell him that I'm going to go to Central Duel Academy.

"-Oh yeah, What was that deck you were playing? It looks like a hodgepodge of cards a lot of the pros use, Did you convince your dad to get them for you?"

"Na, I traded Red-Eyes Darkness Metal Dragon so I could afford to change decks."

He visibly convulsed, looking appalled at the information I provided him.

"_Wha-__**WHAT? YOU TRADED THE RED-EYES I GAVE YOU!?"**_

The crowd around us hushed, turning around to catch the unhatching drama.

_Huh?_

"...You traded away red eyes… for this deck?! It won't even mesh well at all for our Tag style!"

"I wanted to be able to get my Single and Match rating up so I figured I needed a more consistent deck. I'll make it up to you and-"

"Mom said you only wanted to be my friend 'cuz I won that sweepstakes and not to give you anything… Looks like I owe her an apology after all. I can't believe you would just sell my card like that? Did our friendship mean nothing to you?"

Tears were streaming down his face, tears and snot.

I opened and closed my mouth without having anything worthwhile to say. I couldn't tell him that I didn't realize that it was his card or his gift to me or whatever, _**that won't work**_… and I can't just tell him that I'm not the friend he used to know, that I was only his replacement.

"**BACKSTABBER!"** He said throwing a punch into the air.

I got low, swerving out of the strike range by backpedaling.

"**FUCK YOU!"**

He charged at me, swinging a fully reared back leg kicking towards me. I lifted my hands to stop his kick.

***Crunch***

Pain shot through my hand.

It was like the area was soaked in kerosene and ignited.

"I trusted you! I-I'm-I'm telling Yumiko everything! I bet she'll never even talk to you again." He said struggling against the duelists around us who had him wrapped up - pulling him away and separating us. "We're not friends anymore!"

I couldn't believe how my day was turning out.

_Shit was currently hitting the fan._

* * *

┬┴┬┴┤寸法の橋渡し├┬┴┬┴

"Hey, welcome home sweetheart!" My mother greeted me.

"Hey mom…"

I wasn't in the mood to play social minesweeper with this person at this time. I just wanted to shut myself up in my room for the rest of the night. I couldn't handle any more bombs going off.

"-You have a letter from Industrial Illusions." She let slip all at once.

_Today just kept getting weirder._

"What is it?" I asked.

"I was waiting all day for you to open it." She said stuffing it into my hands, she squirmed around not letting me walk away from her.

"Come on Ki - Let me experience this with you."

My normally limitless patience was grinding very thin, but I understood I was being selfish.

Letting out a tired sigh, I gave into the woman, turning around and ripping open the envelope.

"_**Congratulations Contendant Kisuke Tashiro, You have qualified for the "Industrial Open" an online Regional Youth-16 tournament on 26th 3:30pm. You must connect from a secure browser. The top 32 contenders will qualify for the remaining open bracket spots for the world renowned "Industrial Cup", a physical Youth-16 National tournament where the top prospects will be awarded fantastic prizes on July 28th in Tokyo city. Good-luck!"**_

"You qualified for a tournament? Is it a Tag Team tournament?" She asked.

"Uh… Aketo and me aren't really friends anymore..."

Her face pinched and scrunched like she had tasted something sour.

"...Because you sold his card?" She said darkly unlike herself

"...Yes."

She turned around, I saw her sleeve dab at her face while she was turned away from me.

"You should be ashamed of yourself."

_Why was she telling me this NOW? Wait a second, she randomly broke into tears when I first mentioned selling the card, and only through my father coercing her did she finally calm down… _

_She knew what I was doing long before I did, and that must mean so did my father, and they let me do it anyways thinking I understood the consequences._

"I am…" I said miserably.

She flashed me a pitying glance, opening her arms - spreading them wide inviting me to hug her.

I approached her, wrapping my arms around the warm thin woman.

"What's over is over. All you can do is own it and learn from it."

_She was pretty wise for a housewife._

"Try to paint over your actions and make up with him. You've been friends forever, he'll forgive you eventually - I know he will."

She sounded so confident, but then again she didn't see the sparks of hatred in his eyes. The betrayal he was experiencing because of me.

"...yeah…" I said.

"Phew - You need to take a shower. You smell like a skunk."

My back straightened at the reference.

-But she went back to the living room, leaving me to myself instead of calling me out.

_Well… This "Industrial Open" is tomorrow, I better study up on the rules and gameplay mechanics before I ruin another live duel because of my lack of information._

Id make it to nationals. I'd win with these cards that cost the boy formerly named Kisuke his _(Best?)_ friend, and when it's all over, I'll sell whatever cards and get him back his red-eyes. Almost like he loaned it to me as a showing of trust.

* * *

┬┴┬┴┤寸法の橋渡し├┬┴┬┴

_**A/N:**__ Thanks to everyone who left a review. In all honesty, I didn't know whether I'd write another chapter, but after seeing the support, and especially __Yung Warrior_ _who I look up to, I had to get another chapter out. Let's see how this one lands. Let me know your opinions, good or bad. Reviews will be appreciated._


	3. Chapter 3

**Yu-Gi-Oh: Bridging The Dimensions**

* * *

**Article 3 - Chapter 3 - Desperation All In**

_**Warnings: I do not own Yu-Gi-Oh, it's intellectual property is owned by none other than Konami and Kazuki Takahashi. If I owned Yu-Gi-Oh - it wouldn't be as riddled with incompetant duelists, ruling errors, and ass-pull bullshit as it was. So there.**_

**-Also, still accepting Beta readers! Hit me up with a PM-**

* * *

┬┴┬┴┤_神の起源├┬┴┬┴_

_**(Last Chapter: Excerpt)**_

_Well… This "Industrial Open" is tomorrow, I better study up on the rules and gameplay mechanics before I ruin another live duel because of my lack of information._

Id make it to nationals. I'd win with these cards that cost the boy formerly named Kisuke his _(Best?)_ friend, and when it's all over, I'll sell whatever cards and get him back his red-eyes. Almost like he loaned it to me as a showing of trust.

* * *

┬┴┬┴┤ Chapter 3 ├┬┴┬┴

┬┴┬┴┤寸法の橋渡し├┬┴┬┴

The stress returned.

Now put on a deadline to be able to perform, I needed to prepare myself fully. It didn't matter that people didn't expect anything out of me, that I could laze down a stream of mediocrity like most do rather than surf the turbulent waters of conflict. I had taken it easy in comparison the first time around, and all I had to show for it was regret. This time I'll definitely put my all into it.

_If I only did what I was comfortable doing, I would miss so many experiences - and while I'll probably have regrets anyways, at least I'll know I did everything I could. And in the end, that was good enough for me._

It seems my inability to swallow pills normally was truly all mental, because even in this new body, I couldn't seem to force down the capsules despite wanting nothing more at the moment.

I had to improvise, using my good hand to smash the ibuprofen on my desk with a spoon and sweep it into a cup of water before drinking it.

I held up my hand currently encased in a cast.

Aketo broke my thumb with his parting kick. Anger swelled in me thinking about the incident but I had to admit most of it was my own fault despite him flying off the handle.

_Perhaps it was the casual manner I stated I sold his card like I didn't have a care in the world, or maybe he was psychotic, either way… I guess I kind of deserved it._

I tried to push the memories out of mind by studying up on the chain-link system for Duel Monsters, it being reminiscent of the game I had come to love.

_It was a reboxed, new, uber competitive, and nostalgic game that I already knew a lot of history behind. But above all? I could imagine myself being a duelist for the rest of my life._

"Every card has their own base timing, and then there are multipliers for each distinct spell speed increasing or decreasing the window for activation." I read aloud from an online forum post.

The game looked less and less like a card-game and more like a MMO real-time strategy game. League of Legends jumped to mind first since Kaiba Corporation introduced an Elo system.

The games rule differences weren't the only thing on my mind though. I shuffled my deck repeatedly in my hands, looking at my 6 card draw's power over and over.

The holes in my deck's design without it's centerpiece made me doubt how far I could really reach at the National level.

Despite how much I hated Viktor, I'll admit, getting creamed by him so absolutely gave me hope. Hope this reality could really challenge me. To allow me to find strong rivals and friends while chasing the allure of another chance at youth.

_But to do that. I need Dark Magician of Chaos..._

_An Idea came to mind, not one I had pride or confidence in, but it was better than nothing, right?_

* * *

┬┴┬┴┤寸法の橋渡し├┬┴┬┴

Having brushed up on the rules, while allowed to duel with a more familiar layout like the online formated tournament, and being allowed to construct any deck, I was too in my element to lose.

**Kisuke: 14 Wins - 1 Losses - 1 Tie - 2nd Place**

The words on the screen felt assuring despite not being a true representation of what was to come.

_Nationals… I'll be able to see Seto Kiaba's son in action and who knows who else._

127 other contestants other than myself - all trying to get at least top 16 to at least get some of their 'illustrious' prize pool. More often than not, these were Rare reprints of cards or entirely new or exclusive releases based on my research online.

This world mirrored my reality in more ways than I would have expected. I expected the better cards to be more exclusive and rare, but you had to have true exceptional skill or strong social ties to get your hands on exclusive cards.

While of course they held value, most people considered them priceless. Favoring to hold onto them rather than selling them for obscene amounts in an auction.

Top 16 was acceptable, but more than anything, I wanted to win it all. My KC solo ratings were atrocious so no one will expect me to be much of a fight. People won't prepare for me.

_Realistically, I might have my best shot now_ \- That was… until I saw the tournament bracket.

It was seeded, but i guess because the online tournament was more of a gimmick, my seeding was incredibly low. Many of my potential opponents were highly seeded.

_**107 - Aketo Kenma**__ Kisuke's ex best friend, or __**22 - Manu Ginobili **__in the 2nd match._

_**31 - Ryu Homura **__probably in the 3rd._

_**16 - Viktor Hitoshima**__ COULD BE MY OPPONENT IN THE 4th! PLEASE MAKE IT THAT FAR!_

_Not to mention I'd eventually have to face the __**1st**__ seeded player… __**Niomi Princeton**__._

In relation, Seto Kaiba Jr. was ranked **Number 2**.

_Wow. There's no way I can enter this tournament without it. I need it!_

I grabbed my bag, hurrying downstairs to leave. The aroma of Waffles frying teased my nostrils, but I had already made up my mind.

"Off to Kiabaland Mom."

"When will you be home?" She asked concerned from the other room.

"Uh~ I'll text you."

Her sour face peeked out from the kitchen while I was reaching for my shoes.

"Okay...love you." She said.

"Yeaa~um~two" I mumbled uncomfortably heading out the door.

It always made me feel weird when put in a position where I was expected to repeat back my parents pleasantries, but the most empty of them all was to tell them I loved them.

I did some mental gymnastics to make my own little moral grey area. I figured if I never actually said it back to them, it wouldn't be a lie.

Of all the things I feel for these parents: admiration, trust, loyalty, and respect. Love was not among them. I didn't have an intimate understanding of either of them, and I wasn't actually their child. Don't get me wrong, They were wonderful parents from as far as I could tell, which is awesome and all, but that doesn't bend reality.

_I barely knew them._

I knew _**about**_ them. How many awards my father received during his junior circuit playing Duel Monsters. **7** \- Which is the most of any of his siblings... Something he likes to boast about in good spirits.

I knew my mother stopped being a runway model after she became pregnant with me, but she was always nice to me regardless.

Where I came from, it wasn't uncommon for mothers to hold a grudge against their children for disrupting their lives and aspirations. To be honest, many of my own personal friend's moms, and even my own, were petty thots. They were knocked up too early or shouldn't have had the right to be responsible for children in the first place. They were self absorbed, uneducated, and overly prideful. This isn't to say all mothers are unfit for the job of parenthood, but that the unsuited should realize that it isn't for the feint of heart. That their future happiness and the happiness of their partner and offspring would be directly affected based on their decisions. That some self reflection was in order to be able to determine if having the child was the right play, or if an abortion/adoption was the right play for them.

I say that... but if everyone followed these guidelines, then I wouldn't have met most of the people who had became my best friends back in my last reality. The people I cherished more than any possessions or family. To me they were my family even if not by blood, and they had earned the most precious thing I could possibly give them - my undying loyalty.

Steve, Jackson, and Mozzie were quality people even if we weren't from a quality background. I found myself wondering what had happened to them, and if they too joined me in this world resembling the Yu-gi-verse.

_I missed them._

The streetlights and headlights from cars lit my path, the guardrail the only thing between me and these zooming vehicles.

A plastic cup flew over the guardrail crashing on the cement splashing up. Some pink soda squirted my clothes despite trying to shield myself.

Annoyed, I watched the black sports car swerve into another lane having gotten rid of their litter, their tires squealing as they pulled away.

Burnt rubber was in the air, I grabbed my shirt and breathed through it to vent the tainted air.

Eventually, I arrived at Kiabaland once more, the floodlights outside and spotlight mixed with the watershow display outside reminded me of a casino, but gambling wasn't allowed on amateur matches.

Diamond level players will eventually get invited to the minor league so that they can show their stuff. Most of Platinum players have a lot of potential, as thus they will be assigned free agents by Kiaba corporation in exchange for a binding contract with them. The agents will point the duelist's in the direction of progress so they can represent the KC brand.

Being Sponsored by KC, even in the minor leagues, is more than $50K - or 4.8 million Ryo per year not including prizes, but prizes are often split 50/50 with KC due to the duelist's contract.

_Kiaba must be making a killing off streaming, television, and gambling revenue. Not to mention he has the E-sports game on lock. Who do you think makes more, the card manufacturer or the global pro circuit?_

I was getting chills and goosebumps down my whole body while standing before the turnstyle mechanical door, which is the only door to enter the building after 8pm.

_What if I lose?_

I had a lot of confidence in myself, and the cryptic warning of the… aliens? Other dimensional beings? Whatever they were, they told me to be faithful.

_Well here's the biggest leap of faith I can take._

On the 3rd floor, there were private reserved arena's meant for practice, drills, and personal grudge matches between KC sponsored and contracted duelists.

Inside the reserved room 304, I studied the man sporting a black and gold blazer with a modded duel disk with tricked out custom art. He was of medium height with slicked back red hair and freckles despite clearly having some eastern lineage by his slanted eyes and bronzed skin.

Dameon Toyz - A Diamond rated player who weekly competes in the minor leagues.

I figured the odds were against me, but desperation made it difficult to play to the safe bet. My window of opportunity to build an ideal deck was closing by the minute.

_Sometimes you've gotta risk it for the biscuit._

In the Yu-gi-oh verse, I could envision myself on the world stage, testing my mettle in front of a global audience, able to display not only my ability to make a solid deck with my limited resources, but also exhibit the raw mechanical prowess to obliterate my opposition. Funnily enough, I don't know if I could have asked for a more ideal world to get dropped in. My heart ablaze with the fire of competition would be challenged. A pro card game player was more than just a niche career choice which would need to be supplemented with side-hustles, it's a universally respected profession.

All the more reason I can't play it safe. To be able to stand out from the millions of players and make a name for myself I'd need to start getting my shit together now.

He was dueling an AI bot that had a lightsworn chaos deck to duel against. As the game continued, more and more cards piled up in the CPU's grave.

"Summoning - **Judgment Dragon** \- in ATK mode. _**(ATK: 3000 DEF: 2600)**_ Use effect."

_-1000 LP CPU_

"Chain! **Fiendish Chain**." A black metal chain launched itself from the cards projected artwork spearing through the chest of the majestic dragon and sealing its power away with a toxic aura.

."Summoning - 2nd **Judgment Dragon** \- in ATK mode. _**(ATK: 3000 DEF: 2600)**_ Use effect."

_-1000 LP_ | **CPU 650 - Dameon 5100**

All the cards except the 2nd Judgement Dragon shattered and vanished after the roar of the monster right into the graveyard.

The holy aura surrounding the dragon began to dim, all the static surrounding light was pulled into the dragon's maw and shot from his visage crashing into Dameon, the force from the hologram causing him to slide backwards with a squeak from his shoes.

_-1000 LP_ | **CPU 650 - Dameon 2100**

He didn't flinch even being thrown around from the duel, I wondered what he had in his hand that he was still smiling about.

My still wet pants was sticking to my leg, the sensation was unpleasant, but despite picking at it every couple minutes, it would always find a way to stick right back.

It was his turn, quickly drawing a card, his eyes never bothering to even look at the card. In a fluid motion, the same card he drew he threw onto his Duel Disk.

A behemoth of a monsters outline was created, the pixels changing and morphing into a black and grey armored dragon with steel-like blades mounted to its body.

**Dark Armed Dragon**_** (ATK: 2800 DEF: 1000)**__… Hes currently just a smidge more expensive than red-eyes because of __**DAD**__'s popularity inside the meta, but he wasn't today's target._

"Banish from grave and Destroy!" he said flicking his hand out theatrically.

The Judgement dragon exploded like fireworks. _The light show was visibly appealing if nothing else._

"Attack."

"**Error: No usable cards or effects."**

The formless blackened beam of energy struck the AI's terminal.

"**CPU 0 - Dameon 2100" It said. "Winner - Dameon Toyz - Diamond Rated Duelist."**

_How did he know what his top card of his deck was without looking? Was a card sent back to the top of the deck?_

The man's gaze fell upon me, his pupils burned like ice.

"Is there something you need kid?"

I had to check behind me briefly to make sure he was talking to me, and after seeing an absence of anyone around I could only conclude that, yes - he was talking to me.

"It looks like the bot's are barely practice for you." I said.

His brows furrowed looking frustrated.

"Seriously? Small talk? This arena is reserved, so scamper along."

I couldn't let it end this way.

"You sure have a big mouth. You think you're pretty good don't you?"

"Considering I'm a pro, and Diamond rating is only achieved by less than 1% of the ranked population, yeah, I guess I'm pretty good." He responded.

"Semi-pro I thought it was? I guess if I was trying to impress random high schoolers I might stretch the truth from time to time too though."

His face flushed becoming more and more red out of anger.

"Get out of here before I call security on you - _pshh_ \- scrub."

"How about we have a little contest. Since you think your so good, I'll give you an opportunity to bet on yourself. It should be an easy win to defeat a wet behind the ears schoolboy shouldn't it?"

"You?! Bah, I've seen flowers more intimidating. You wouldn't be worth the time it would take to draw my starting hand."

"Avoiding conflict is a great defense mechanism for someone who struggles with self-doubt. How long have you been experiencing these symptoms?"

"... I thought I was above taking from kids, but it looks like I'll have to teach_ the schoolboy_ a lesson in respect. What is your bet?"

"If I win, you give me your **Dark Magician of Chaos** and **Giant Trunade**."

"Are you crazy? That alone is more than 2 million Ryo worth of cards."

"I'll stake my entire deck, approximate value of 780,000 Ryo or more, and by the way - I'm a wood rated duelist."

His bottom lip quivered before resting his face in his palm. I couldn't tell what he was thinking. He was frozen like that for sometime before his shoulders began convulsing.

"Your… A wood rated duelist… Fucking _**WOOD TIER?**_ **And you think your at my level?!**"

I walked straight up to him, presenting him with my deck spread apart in my fingers.

"**Dimension Fusion**, **Heavy Storm**, 2 **Return's**, a Destiny Hero and draw engine. It's w-"

"-You know what? I'm sick of hearing your mouth. Fine. You want an ante-duel? Great - You've got one." He quickly scoffed shaking his head. "_Fucking wood tier plebs trying to hand me their money_…"

My heart beat erratically in my chest. A mix of excitement and fear gripping me. Gambles are a thrill, but I don't like being as risky as I am now unless I needed to.

In my old life, the _house_ thrashed me soundly several times, the odds are skewed in their favor, but the most notable were my desperation **All-In's **to attempt to reclaim losses.

Today was different. I wasn't in danger of losing anything until I challenged a pro who makes a full living off his skill in this game, and I knew his deck was no joke having seen several of his matches, but my greed to have a competitive edge left me here.

I have only ever gone ALL-IN during gambling five times, four of those times were tragic failures, but the last one was a resounding victory.

_My luck? Not the best, but statistically that had to start evening out eventually, and here was the opportunity that I need._

_Aliens… I don't know if you can hear me, but I need a miracle. I need to pull off a win in this game. Show me just a little bit of love so that I can awaken this faith you talk about!_

"I only have time for a single and not a match, besides, a single is your best hope to beat me anyways." He said backpedaling to the far end of the arena. "This is your last chance to back out."

My legs were weak. Despite being 80 pounds, I felt like I was 300.

Each step to the duel's starting position was like its own qualifier proving I was worthy to challenge Dameon.

_What would I do if I lost? What if all those cards disappear and I have to go to nationals with the most trash tier of decks?_

_No… If I'm thinking about losing already, I'll never win. I need to have already defeated him in my mind. Today I was david staring down Goliath, but instead of a sling-shot and stones, I had a deck that I slaved to make, and now I was only two cards short from my ideal build._

_Just one duel separating me from the deck of my fantasies._

"Ready to cough up your entire deck brat?"

"I've been having wet dreams about your **DMOC** for a week."

His face scrunched with apparent disgust.

"… GAAAAAAYYYY!"

"Yeah? Get ready to get bent over by a _**Wood tier pleb**_!"

A vein on the side of his head pulsated. A passionate flame burnt in his eyes. He lowered himself aggressively, both arms behind his back. A victorious smile already plastered on his face. His belittlement of me was unacceptably appalling.

_I'll need to fix that._

He pulled his arms out from behind his back, spreading them out from his body.

"What hand is the coin in?"

"Your left."

"Nope - Nada. I'll be going first."

_I'm going to get into his head._

"Ay! Thats my right idiot?"

His brows furrowed again, flashing me a disbelieving look.

"That's what you said - My left is your right."

"Oh - I know _I'm right_, I just wanted to hear you say it." I said chuckling.

He ground a boot into the floor, his vial temperament spilling out onto his face readily apparent with an aggravated frown.

_I'm basically poking a bear here. Please don't shit on all my dreams. Thanks._

"**Single Game - 8000 Life Points. Duelist's ready?"** A mechanical voice boomed throughout the arena.

"Pshhh!" Dameon huffed. "It's _**DAME**_ time baby!"

_Is that a play on words with his name? Oof, this guy._

"**KC Single's Stats: 6 Wins - 29 Losses Kisuke Tashiro - Wood Rated Duelist Vs. 675 Wins - 289 Losses Dameon Toyz - Diamond Rated Duelist."**

Drawing my starting hand, I nearly gasped before adopting my poker face. Dameons eyes were focused on me with a predators intensity.

_Did he read my tell?_

On my Duel Disk, the spell card **Destiny Draw** appeared in his back row.

"I'll discard **Destiny HERO - Dasher** to draw two cards - then I normal summon **Armageddon Knight **in attack mode_**(ATK: 1400 DEF: 1200), **_sending a dark monster from my deck to the grave by his effect, but it won't stay in the grave for long." He said as a warrior of darkness clad in corroded aged platemail descended into the arena with a plain non-decorative iron longsword in hand. "See, I play **Premature Burial**, so** Destiny HERO - Disk Commander** _**(ATK: 300 DEF: 300) **_rise, letting your's truly draw another two cards. Wow! -And they're good ones."

(-800LP **| Kisuke: 8000 - Dameon: 7200**)

_Ooof - I don't like that early card advantage._

"Now I play **Giant Trunade** to bounce my **Premature Burial** to my hand. Then I'll throw down two face downs and give you a shot _Woodwood_."

Entering my turn and grabbing a card from the top of my deck, I stared down my opponent. I wanted to mine any data I could, but despite loiding over me the entire game, I didn't know what to expect.

"I play Reinforcements of the army searching **Elemental Hero - Stratos** to my hand."

"Not today~ I play **Trap Dustshoot**." A hologram of my hand appeared before Dameon's face.

His lip twitched seeing his choice of monsters to send back to the deck.

"Having a hard time over there?"

"Send **Stratos **back!" He finally decided.

I shuffled the monster back into my deck, jamming the sleeved cards with care back into the duel disk's deck slot.

Looking back to my hand, I could barely restrain myself.

_If I actually got to play my cards, this guy was not going to have a good time._

I slapped **Allure of Darkness** into a backrow slot, quickly fetching the top two cards from my deck then banishing **Darklord Zerato **from my hand.

"Guess what? I play another copy of **Allure of Darkness**, because everything is better in pairs."

"That's true. As the legendary _Woodwood_, I expect you have a pair of extra chromosomes. Am I right? I bet that's fun."

A tooth sunk into my lip, the taste of mingled copper and iron oozing into my mouth. I drew my cards and banished my **Dark Nephthys** from my hand due to **Allure**.

_He has 2 monsters, only 1 face down now, and 4 cards in hand - While I have 5 cards in my hand, but they are at least a pretty damn good 5 cards._

"You look like your struggling over there. Why don't you save us some time and just hand your deck over." He said grinning victoriously.

"I activate **Destiny Draw **discarding a Destiny Heroto the graveyard, then drawing two more cards."

Next I slapped a spell into a backrow slot manifesting an image of a miniscule goblin with the text "+1" floating midair.

(+1000LP **| Kisuke: 8000 - Dameon: 8200**)

"**Upstart Goblin** huh? Not worried one bit about giving me a lifepoint advantage are you _woodwood_?"

"You're gunna need all the life points you can get. I figured I'd do you a solid this once." I said sliding a card into my backrow slot while he was distracted.

A blue specter reaching out from the loose earth popped up on my duel disk interface screen allowing me to quickly finger my **Destiny HERO - Disk Commander **selecting it from the graveyard_**. **_The image was recognizable as none other than the splash art for **Premature Burial.**

As quickly as I could make my selection, my card disappeared before my very eyes. Instead, the text "Invalid Target" appeared on the duel disk's LCD display.

(-800LP **| Kisuke: 7200 - Dameon: 8200**)

"Trying to be tricky are we? Not today _woodwood_. See, I'm not the everyday garbage your used to playing against."

Peering into Dameon's Graveyard, I saw the newly discarded **D.D. Crow** sitting on the top of the pile.

_He used D.D. Crow's effect to banish my spell cards target!_

"Fuck." I cursed under my breath as I sent my wasted **Premature Burial** to the graveyard.

_Well, I guess now I've got no choice but to play 'it'_.

I knew I had to win fast before he could draw into his main combo pieces, My deck was more gimmocky to end the game early, his was more focused on firepower and disruption, the longer the duel went on it was only obvious who would hold the advantage.

Resolute, I jammed a card from my hand into my duel disk.

"Fine, then here's my **Dimension Fusion** buddyboy!" I exclaimed, the field illuminating with a mysterious glow as monsters warped into empty monster zones on my side of the field from my banished zone.

(-2000LP **| Kisuke: 5200 - Dameon: 8200**)

A magnanimous and gargantuan crimson winged demon with a royal purplish loincloth rose into one of my monster zones, his ghastly ectoplasmic saber glowing in his grasp while bathing the arena in shrill white light.

**Darklord Zerato** _**(ATK: 2800 DEF: 2300) **_might claim to be a fairy, but I had my doubts anything so demonic looking could pass as one, but then I guess he could be a fallen angel. Beside the monstrosity rose two additional figures, but they were arguably outclassed and overshadowed alongside my 2nd strongest boss monster in my deck.

A midnight black bodied hell butterfly with blood soaked wings flapped about and a foot-tall silvery robotic man with reflective disks and crackling lightning accompanied the very incarnation of Lucifer himself.

**Dark Nephthys** _**(ATK: 2400 DEF: 1600)**_ in attack mode and **Destiny HERO - Disk Commander **in defense_**(ATK: 300 DEF: 300) **_rounding out my field of three monsters.

Clicking on the LCD display, I opened my mouth. "And Dark Nephthys when summoned destroys your Spell or Trap-" but before I could finish, Dameon had already chained his card in response to the destruction effect.

"**Enemy Controller**! I think I'll take your **Darklord Zerato**."

His own foot-tall robotic humanoid vanished and in his place appeared my prized monster.

Clicking a button on my Duel Disk, I heard the usual feminine robotic voice say: "Entering Battle Phase."

My **Dark Nephthys **soared into the air dive bombing the Diamond rated duelist's **Armageddon Knight** shredding the hologram into pieces with it's metallic claws.

(-1000LP **| Kisuke: 5200 - Dameon: 7200**)

**END PHASE**

"Kay, I think I'll let you have a go now." I said allowing him to catch my mischievous grin slipping onto my face.

During the End Phase, My monster he stole returned back to my possession in attack mode signaling the beginning of his turn.

He flicked the top card off his deck glancing at it from the corner of an eye.

"Another great card. Do you want to see what it is _Woodwood_?"

"I-" I started.

"-Actually, I don't care what you want. I'll show it to you anyways. Here's one of the cards you wanted so badly, **Dark Magician of Chaos**, and I think I'll use the Destiny Hero - Dasher's effect from the graveyard in order to special summon him from my hand. Isn't that great news?!"

A black and golden spell circle with enchanted shimmering hieroglyphs engraved across its entire length phased into existence. From the spell circle a spellcasters rod emerged and followed shortly after the slender black and pink garbed magician of chaos not far behind.

"I'll go ahead and select my **Giant Trunade** from my graveyard to add back to my hand from his effect. Imagine playing **Premature Burial** three times!? We'll I guess you don't have to imagine for long, because I'll play it again right now! HAHAHAH."

(-800LP **| Kisuke: 5200 - Dameon: 6400**)

Again, his **Disk Commander** _**(ATK: 300 DEF: 300) **_was summoned back to his side of the field in attack mode, allowing him to draw another 2 cards which he greedily snatched from the top of his deck.

On my screen, I saw him activate another card quickly identifying it as **Giant Trunade**.

"And here's the 3rd activation!" He said slapping down the recently returned **Premature Burial** back onto the field again.

(-800LP **| Kisuke: 5200 - Dameon: 5600**)

A blackish warrior who rightly resembled more of a motorcycle mech broke out of the ground in the same animation as I had seen twice before.

**Destiny HERO - Dasher**_** (ATK: 2100 DEF: 1000).**_

I could see Dameon tap away at his Duel Disk's LCD display, causing his summoned Disk Commander to dematerialize, and his Dasher to open its Maw absorbing what I could only guess was the sacrificed monsters energy.

From my display, I saw **Destiny HERO - Dasher**'s stats change to**: **_**(ATK: 3100 DEF: 1000.)**_

"Now he's strong enough to beat over your Zerato!" Dameon sung in his self indulgent satisfaction.

"Entering Battle Phase." The speaker on my Duel Disk chirped.

I could only watch as the mechanized bicycle blitz forward, running itself through my fairy's body splitting my precious **Darklord Zerato** into innumerable shimmering fragments.

(-300LP **| Kisuke: 4900 - Dameon: 5600**)

And just as quickly as his attack finished, The incarnation of Chaos lifted his rod, jabbing it into the air, and obliterating my **Dark Nephthys **instantaneously. The fragments exploded outward, but then suddenly froze mid-air before being sucked back together as if time itself was reversing, all the pieces imploding together into a hole no light could escape - vanishing entirely. A gust of magnetized force pulsated throughout the arena whipping my baggy clothing this way and that.

(-400LP **| Kisuke: 4500 - Dameon: 5600**)

"That just shows the difference in our calibers as duelists. You aren't allowed to resolve **Premature** once, and I get to play mine three times. It'll be another 10 years before you have any hope of putting up resistance against me in the arena kid."

"Your already congratulating yourself? What a great imagination you must have, but I'll make sure to save you from your rampant phantasmal delusions and reel you back into reality old man."

"I'm in the prime of my life - and your tripping on HARD drugs if you think you even have a shot of winning still. Might as well start saying your final words to that deck of yours. It'll look better on my trophy shelf than it ever looked in your Duel Disk." He said waving his bountiful hand of cards at me like a makeshift fan preening at his words.

"Talk is cheap - just like your deck will be after you hand over your **D.M.O.C.** and **Giant Trunade**."

"My deck is worth more than 15 times what yours is worth, and even if you pulled out a miracle, my deck would still be worth more than 4 of yours. I guess those extra chromosomes makes math-math hard-hard doesn't it?"

_What the fuck, does this guy have a witty retort for everything at the ready? Maybe if he spent that effort focused on the game, I really wouldn't have a chance, but I HAVE TO WIN. THERE'S NO OTHER OPTION._

Looking at my hand, I didn't have a real play, out of the 3 cards in my hand nothing could directly lead me to win, so I'd be relying on this draw.

_Heart of the cards bullshit or Alien overlords, don't fail me now!_

Looking down tentatively to my newest addition to my hand, I sighed quickly in relief.

"I play **Destiny Draw** discarding **Destiny Hero - Diamond Dude** then draw 2 new cards… and… now I'm going to play **Trade-In** discarding a level 8 monster to the Grave and drawing 2 more cards."

Tapping the LCD display, I initialized the sacrifice mechanic tributing my **Disk Commander** on the field as a 1 tribute sacrifice for **Darklord Zerato **who normally would require 2 sacrifices, but because I had 4 or more Dark monsters in my Graveyard, I could bypass the normal cost with his own effect.

**Darklord Zerato** _**(ATK: 2800 DEF: 2300).**_

"Welcome back the Terror-Lord. You can never escape him for long!" I said as the Fairy materialized out of thin air into his nostalgic form. "And by discarding a dark monster, I'll nuke all the monsters off your field. That's right, THEY ALL GO BYE-BYE. AT LEAST I CAN DO THAT MATH-MATH." I shouted before devolving into a laughing, snorting fit.

"Entering Battle Phase." The Duel Disk relayed.

"ATTACK!" I shrieked watching my boss monster swing his blade for direct damage.

(-2800LP **| Kisuke: 4500 - Dameon: 2800**)

"Entering Main Phase 2." The speaker chirped.

Slapping a face-down card into my spell and trap zone, I then fingered the button ending my turn.

_Unfortunately, because Zerato used his nuke effect, during the end phase he is sent to the graveyard, but that's a small price to pay for doo-dooing on that pompous jerk's board._

**Zerato** vanished from the field into a black abyss of his own creation before the hole in reality closed itself behind him.

Dameon's eye was twitching erratically having just been embarrassed by someone he considered inferior, or at least that's what I thought anyways. Regardless of the why, the fact he was so obviously heated was the sweetest nectar I could indulge in.

"Looks like these extra chromosomes are plenty competition for a duelist of YOUR caliber. I guess that says more about you than it does about me though, doesn't it?"

"Shut up you spazztic. Your still no contest and fucking braindead to boot; I'll prove it right now. And by the way - I'm going to CHERISH the memory of your tears when I pry that deck out of your overconfident, outclassed hands."

_Beep _my Duel Disk chimed signaling my opponents draw phase.

I saw the Phase move to Main Phase 1 on the LCD display and immediately the animation for a normal summon began. An ethereal black shade with no tangible body clad in an ornate golden breastplate with spikes jutting out in every which way with an incredulous red flowing cape leaking a purple aura of mysterious origins spawned on Dameon's field.

Say Hello to **Prometheus, King of the Shadows** _**(ATK: 1200 DEF: 800)**_. When he comes out to play, I get to banish as many of my dark monsters from my Graveyard as I want and he gains 400 ATK for each.

From the LCD display, I witnessed his **Destiny HERO - Dasher** move from the Graveyard to the Banished Zone, but only that one card.

_**(ATK: 1600 DEF: 800)**_

"And now… for a _REAL ACE _monster. He's not your Father but you can still call him Daddy. Rise ~ **Dark Armed Dragon**!"

_No, he has 3 Darks in the graveyard now!_

An infernal black smog swept over the board giving birth to the black and grey metallically scaled dragon that towered to the arena's ceiling. A more horrific and threatening version of Armed Dragon level 7 personified by its corruption by the forces of darkness. It's silver etched blades gleamed majestically reflecting the fluorescent light beaming down on the field from the fixture affixed to the ceiling.

"I'll show you why we call him DAD, destroy his face down by banishing Armageddon Knight from the grave."

_I don't have any cards in my banished anymore… I couldn't activate my card even if I wanted too._

Reaching for the card slotted in my back row zone, I tossed it into the graveyard.

"No more pesky traps, and your field is empty. So here comes the troops because your not the only duelist who can play **Dimension Fusion**."

The enchanting sound of a spell activation projected out of my Duel Disk's speakers, the final card in Dameon's hand hitting the field.

(-2000LP **| Kisuke: 4500 - Dameon: 800**)

My eyes caught 3 shapes pop out of a blue swirling dimensional portal reminiscent of the many portals I remember in that strange hallway in the federations stronghold, only those portals were green and not spitting out the familiar 3 monsters in Dameon's banish zone back onto his field yet again.

**Destiny HERO - Dasher**_** (ATK: 2100 DEF: 1000),**_ **Armageddon Knight **_**(ATK: 1400 DEF: 1200),**_ and **Dark Magician of Chaos **_**(ATK: 2800 DEF: 2600) **_spawned into Dameon's final 3 monster zones filling up his field with 5 monsters.

"And **D.M.O.C.** lets me grab ANOTHER spell from my graveyard to my hand, I guess I'll grab **Enemy Controller** even though I doubt I'll need it."

The bronze skinned duelist ripped his deck out of his holster sifting through it before tossing one of the cards into the grave.

_**Armageddon Knight**__ sent a __**Necro Gardna**__ to the grave huh? Not good, he can use that to negate one of my future attacks._

"Entering Battle Phase." The robotic voice relayed.

Staring down his field of 5 monsters, and the shit eating grin of the redheaded Diamond player while clutching onto my final card in my hand, I couldn't help but to cave to my building despair.

_In all reality, He was truly amazing. As much as I hate to give props to the guy, he could really duel even while spending all his time trash talking instead of strategizing._

"**Dasher** \- Attack." He exclaimed in ecstasy. The man's eyes widened while his mouth pinched together into a wicked elated victorious smirk.

The monster spun his wheels before jerking into motion for the direct attack.

Reflexively, my hand shot forward sliding a card onto my Duel Disk before the activation window could expire.

A tiny yet fiendish creation intercepted the attack of the charging monster, repelling it causing it to retreat back onto Dameon's side of the field and close its body up into a defensive stance.

The LCD screen displays the changing of phases to Main Phase 2, but I could hardly celebrate the situation even if I had held on another turn.

"Well, well, well. **Battle Fader** to postpone your demise? Hasn't anyone told you procrastinating is a terrible habit?" Dameon mocked while changing his **Armageddon Knight** to defense mode.

He fiddled with his Duel Disk before the **Prometheus, King of the Shadows** burst into fragments which were then promptly sucked into the body of the defensive **Destiny HERO - Dasher** raising his stats to _**(ATK: 3100 DEF: 1000)**__ until the End Phase._

_He's eliminating my chances to win by beating over his weak monsters because he only has 800 Life Points left. FUCK._

My breathing became heavier and more ragged. In my head, the assortment of cards left within my deck cycled through my mind, but I couldn't think of a single card that could bail me out of this game.

_It was entirely hopeless. Hadn't I learned my lesson that the House always wins? Was I really going to have to go to participate in nationals with a hastily constructed budget deck… Wait 800 Lifepoints?! There is one card that can bail me out!_

Hope returned in full vigour as I struggled to steady my breathing.

"Oh, and _Woodwood_, before you get any bright ideas - I place a face down and pass over to you." He said before finishing with an obnoxious snort.

_No… I forgot he could use Enemy Controller to interrupt my play. It was truly the final nail in my coffin._

As quickly as hope arrived, it was snuffed out entirely like a thick blanket over a dying flame.

My turn was an exercise in futility, but I won't concede defeat to him, instead he'll have to _earn_ his victory off me.

With no cards in hand, and no single card in my deck which could bring my dreams of a comeback to fruition, I slid the top card off my deck defiantly as if spitting into Destiny's face.

My heart froze in my chest catching the art of the card into my gaze.

"I…" I started before laughing. Quickly I reined in my emotions and finished with: "I play **The Beginning of the End**, banishing 5 Dark monsters from my Graveyard so that I can draw 3 new cards."

Sliding the next 3 cards off my deck and lifting them to my face, I still wasn't sure how I could win, but If I had any chance I'd need to draw into my deck further.

"I play Monster Reborn." I said activating the spell card from my hand and poking at the LCD display.

Dameon's eyes grew wider in surprise as he presumably realized my target.

_That's right, I want your **Disk Commander** so you can't **D.D. Crow** it and I get to keep mine._

The Familiar silver robotic man adorning optical disc accompanied with crackling lightning was dragged onto my field giving me a total of 2 monsters on the field and an additional 2 cards from the top of my deck to my hand.

Looking at my hand of 4 cards, I couldn't believe what I managed to draw into, and the beginning of a strategy for taking victory was born.

Flicking a monster onto the duel disk, I normal summoned **Elemental HERO Stratos **_**(ATK: 1800 DEF: 300)**_, but I wouldn't be using his backrow destruction effect, and instead used his ability to search through my deck adding the true boss monster of my deck to my hand.

"I tribute all 3 of my monsters to special summon **Destiny HERO - Dogma** _**(ATK: 3400 DEF: 2400) **_from my hand in attack mode."

My finger pressed at a button causing me to enter my battle phase.

"I attack **Dark Armed Dragon**." I said, but just as The attack initiated, the redhead activated an effect, the image of an armored ghost attaching himself to Dogma and forcing him backwards negating the attack.

_Still hasn't used his Enemy Controller, but at least I got the Necro Gardna I guess..._

Leaving my battle phase, I chucked down a facedown and ended my turn.

(-400LP **| Kisuke: 4500 - Dameon: 400**)

_Dogma's effect activates during his standby phase halfing his current life points._

The Diamond duelist tapped ferociously at his Duel Disk, causing **Dark Armed Dragon** to release a black beam of energy aimed at my face down backrow causing me to reach and flip it.

The card was none other than **Return from the Different Dimension**, allowing me to special summon as many monsters from my banished until the end phase of the turn.

Space distorted raining monsters from my banished onto the field as I selected them from the LCD display all in defense mode.

(-2250LP **| Kisuke: 2250 - Dameon: 400**)

2 **Darklord Zerato's** spawned to my defense _**(ATK: 2800 DEF: 2300) **_alongside a **Dark Nephthys** _**(ATK: 2400 DEF: 1600), **_and** Dark Grepher **_**(ATK: 1700 DEF: 1600)**_**.**

"You still haven't learned yet have you _Woodwood?_ I have an answer to ALL of your moves, see?"

**Enemy Controller** was flipped zapping his **Armageddon Knight** to dust and forcibly snatching one of my defensive **Darklord Zerato**s from my control for the rest of my turn.

"And I think I'll use his effect by discarding this copy of **D.D. Crow** destroying all monsters on your field."

A black lighting bolt shot from the heavens crashing into the field wiping out all my monsters protecting my life points so that nothing remained on my field.

Zerato burst into fragments and immediately I recognized he was using **Destiny HERO - Dasher**'s effect to raise his stats to _**(ATK: 3100 DEF: 1000).**_

3 Ferocious monsters all capable of depleting my life points to zero themselves with only one attack were now capable of direct attacks.

"Don't fret little _Woodwood_, you were simply outmatched. Maybe this experience will be a good reminder for you to remember your place in the future."

"Entering Battle Phase." the speaker projected.

_Well… I'm sure I could do well at nationals even with a makeshift budget deck. I might not be able to win, but I could certainly have a good enough showing to be invited to the prestigious Central Duel Academy. Here it's not all about deck construction, it's about using your resources and talent._

"You put up a decent fight, far better than I expected of a wood tiered player to be frank, so I'll give you a parting gift. You can see my **Dark Magician of Chaos** in action one last time since you like him so much."

The incarnation of chaos lifted his scepter into the air menacingly, pointing it directly my way.

_Sure… losing my deck would be a pain that I could handle, but that doesn't mean I want to go through with that shit._

I quickly summoned my **Battle Fader** from my hand repelling the attack and ending the battle phase.

The diamond duelist stomped in place in a maddened rage.

"A..A...ANOTHER ONE?!" He shrieked slapping himself in the face. "NO-NO-NO! Dark Armed Dragon, Destroy!" he said pointing at my single monster.

The Dragonic form leeched energy from the surroundings and unleashed a torrent of black energy shattering my **Battle Fader** in a liteshow like an igniting firework and banishing it due to Battle Fader's effect.

"How long do you think you can delay the inevitable?! Your going to lose."

Dameon stroked his chin for a moment while looking down at his field pondering something until banishing another monster from his graveyard destroying his own **Destiny HERO - Dasher** with Dark Armed Dragon's effect.

"Okay - fine! I'd love to see you beat over my two 2800 ATK monsters. Lets see what you've got _Woodwood_."

Grabbing the top card off my deck, I like Dameon last turn, didn't even need to look at it, and instead entered my Main Phase normal summoning a monster in my hand.

A fair skinned feminine figure materialized with long flowing platinum blonde locks stretching down further than her back. A black headdress hid her eyes from view while her dark robe hid any skin beneath the neck from view. Within her grasp was a dark red switch that would do nothing in the face of the elite monsters situated on the opposing field.

Dameon's mouth fell open in astonishment eyeballing my monster.

**Shadowpriestess of Ohm** _**(ATK: 1700 DEF: 1600).**_

"Looks like you recognize this monster Dameon. So you know I'm going to use her effect, right?"

"One turn ago you started with no cards in hand. This is the hardest Topdeck I've ever seen in my life… This is a joke. It can't be real."

"I use her effect tributing herself to inflict 800 damage to you." I said as the Shadowpriestess whipped herself with her switch converting her life force into a blackened smog which floated over Dameon's way.

Slowly but surely, it crashed into the diamond duelist as my Duel Disk went wild with _ping, ping, pings._

(-400LP **| Kisuke: 2250 - Dameon: 0**)

"**Winner: 7 Wins - 30 Losses - Kisuke Tashiro - **_**Promoted**_** to Silver Rated Duelist."**

"**675 Wins - 290 Losses - Dameon Toyz - **_**Demoted**_** to Platinum Rated Duelist."**

_Wow… Since Dameon was so high ranked, I gained a bunch of Elo off this one win, and I guess he lost a bunch too._

"This is unbelievable…" He said his mouth still hanging agape in denial. "I… I just got hustled by a twerp who was pretending to be wood tier. Holy I'm going to kill myself. Did you intentionally tank your elo just to swindle people into making uneven bets?!"

He clenched at his red hair pulling it in his clutches.

"Unreal… and the top deck that came from literally out of nowhere to finish it off. You are the luckiest bitch I've ever seen… but even as pissed as I am, I gotta admit... I'm impressed... Although your still definitely retarded for thinking that tanking your elo is worth a few millions worth of Ryo. Your going to miss all kinds of bigger opportunities if you keep thinking that small for the rest of your life."

I stood silent of his evaluation of me not having expected to be praised at all even if he was completely wrong about why I was ranked so low.

_That's… a pretty spot on evaluation if that's what I would have been going for in truth though._

"These are literally the staples of my deck…" He stated slowly showing Dark Magician of Chaos and Giant Trunade. "Would you be willing for me to give you different cards of higher value instead?"

With Nationals so close, It was doubtful I could get my hands on a different Dark Magician of Chaos as rare as he was even if I had enough value to trade for him, so the proposition was completely out of the question.

"Unfortunately, I dueled you today for those two cards in specific so I can be ready for the upcoming Tokyo Nationals. You seem like a… okay guy… despite all the trash you talked, but I absolutely need them."

He slapped himself in the head twice exclaiming "Stupid - Stupid." He briefly ranted to himself but I couldn't figure out what he was saying before he lifted his head back up and our eyes met. "Fine. Take them! Kisuke Tashiro huh? Maybe I'll reserve seats and watch the Y-16 National Tournament after all. If you go and make a poor showing with my cards though, I'm going to beat your ass."

He extended his arm, holding out my two new prize cards for me to accept while turning his head not to watch.

"I'll definitely have a good showing. And hey, if I don't, I promise to sell or trade you your cards back, but one of the cards you'd need to trade would have to be a **Red-Eye's Darkness Metal Dragon**, alright?"

He seemed to perk up after hearing that, flipping out his phone in a hurry and navigating it's menu.

"Alright, I'll add you as a contact. Keep my cards safe and don't lose them to anyone else in a stupid ante duel - I swear to god."

Pulling out my phone as well, we exchanged information.

_Now I also had a diamond… err former diamond rated duelist as a contact even if he was a bit of a tool. At least he seems to respect me more now though, or he's just pandering to me hoping to get his cards' back, either way, I think this worked out for the best._

With my phone in hand, it dawned on me that I should probably return home to prevent Kisuke's parents from worrying about him.

_Hmm.. Him or me? It would be weird if I were to refer to myself in the 3rd person out loud...Well, whatever._

I Composed a text message to the woman known as my mother and looked it over before accepting it and clicking the send button.

"_I'm almost done, I should be back home in like 30 minutes."_

* * *

┬┴┬┴┤寸法の橋渡し├┬┴┬┴

_**A/N:**__ Thanks to everyone who left a review. In all honesty, I don't have an excuse for the long break and how long this chapter took to get out, so I won't pretend_. I finally put my nose to the grindstone and pumped it out though so better late than never I guess. Let me know your opinions, good or bad. Reviews will be appreciated.


	4. Chapter 4

**Yu-Gi-Oh: Bridging The Dimensions**

* * *

**Article 4 - Chapter 4 - Tethered to the Past**

_**Warnings: I do not own Yu-Gi-Oh, it's intellectual property is owned by none other than Konami and Kazuki Takahashi. If I owned Yu-Gi-Oh - it wouldn't be as riddled with incompetant duelists, ruling errors, and ass-pull bullshit as it was. So there.**_

**-Also, still accepting Beta readers! Hit me up with a PM-**

┬┴┬┴┤_神の起源├┬┴┬┴_

_**(Last Chapter: Excerpt)**_

_Now I also had a diamond… err former diamond rated duelist as a contact even if he was a bit of a tool. At least he seems to respect me more now though, or he's just pandering to me hoping to get his cards' back, either way, I think this worked out for the best._

With my phone in hand, it dawned on me that I should probably return home to prevent Kisuke's parents from worrying about him.

_Hmm.. Him or me? It would be weird if I were to refer to myself in the 3rd person out loud...Well, whatever._

I Composed a text message to the woman known as my mother and looked it over before accepting it and clicking the send button.

"_I'm almost done, I should be back home in like 30 minutes."_

* * *

┬┴┬┴┤ Chapter 4 ├┬┴┬┴

┬┴┬┴┤寸法の橋渡し├┬┴┬┴

_**(Age: 4)**_

My stomach grumbled and seized from emptiness. I was desperately hungry, and pulling up a chair to the kitchen counter and standing on top I scouted for anything to fill my belly. Empty doritos packaging and beer cans littered the surface so I had to resort to my 2nd option.

Crawling up the stairs like a bear inspired by my youthful creativity and pushing my parents door open I spotted my mother passed out in the bed.

Climbing on top and shaking her shoulder viciously to get her attention was fruitless. Try as I might, whining and jerking her arm around wasn't doing the trick.

My vision fell on the nightstand filled with empty orangish containers with rigid white caps. I had messed with them before but once screwing the lids on, it seemed impossible to remove it. It was a puzzle that I quickly lost interest in because of the lack of a justifiable reason for my effort.

Defeated and finding myself downstairs again, I pulled out my favorite plastic bowl shaped like a turtle and colored green out of the sink hosing it down with the water faucet, then I raided the fridge for a carton of eggs.

Laying them on an empty spot on the counter and climbing atop the chair once again, I cracked several eggs and emptied them into my bowl before stuffing it into the microwave and cooking it on high.

The eggs didn't taste the best, and the texture wasn't favorable, but it was food and I added salt and pepper to make it tolerable.

_**(Age 11)**_

My friends and I locked our bikes up on the community rack for building 9. We laughed and ran over on the way to my home. Mozzie arrived first, stopping and pointing to the red slip of paper stapled to the door before saying: "That's an Eviction notice. Ooooo Bertram's family 'bout to be on the street."

Saying that shame burned within me would be an understatement. I ripped the slip off the door in haste before retrieving my key from my pocket, jamming it into the lock, twisting and forcing the door open.

I stumbled inside seeing my dad sprawled out on the couch in the living room watching an NFL football rerun he taped. We couldn't afford cable so we had to make due with what was recorded or what we could pick up with an antenna.

"Dad we got an eviction notice." I said approaching him and holding it out.

His gaze flicked to my friends looming around the front door before he shouted "Go on home. Nothing to see here. Git."

They shot out the door without hesitation, leaving me alone with my old man.

He snatched the paper from my grip, balling it up and shooting it over to the trash and missing, it rolling under the stove instead.

"...Are… We gunna get kicked out?" I asked.

"Ain't no-one kicking me out of my own damn house, you hear?" He spat.

"But if we can't pay-"

"-Are you questioning me boy? I'm grown and you don't know nothin."

_That's a double negative. You just said I do know, you uneducated tard._

I thought about the other kids at school who probably saw the slip, of the ensuing jokes they'd inevitably make calling me and my whole family the broke trash we were. It was unfair. It infuriated me inspiring me to speak up against my better judgement.

"If you didn't waste all the rent money on meth we could afford to live here!"

Springing off the couch like an unhinged animal, he howled like a beast "You think talkin like that's gunna fly you ungrateful little shit? Who took care of you till now? HUH? Who fed you and gave you a roof all this time? Not santa. And now you dare talk down to me? GET 'YER ASS OVER HERE NOW!" He finished, pointing to the ground in front of him.

My legs were frozen in place, the accumulating fear holding me still. It took everything I had to overcome that mounting fear to waddle forward in line for him, completely stripping me of my pride in the process.

"Look at you. Wow, your real tough ain't you? You a real man? Think you can talk shit while you learn the names of the presidents and how to count in school with no real responsibilities?"

"I'm… I'm more of a man than you." I choked out.

His balled fist flew forwards crashing into my skull like a hammer and sweeping me off my feet. Stumbling backwards and against the wall, I tumbled down to the floor.

The world spun and shook violently. I fumbled to my knees but tipped over back onto the floor without the ability to stand.

"Say that shit again. Get up and say that shit again! I dare you! You a real man ain't cha? Ha~ Talk shit get hit idiot."

Tears streamed out of my eyes uncontrollably. I croaked out pathetic weezing cries lying on the floor in agony and bewilderment.

I saw my dad grin before collapsing back onto the couch sprawling out his feet igniting a passionate inextinguishable flame in my heart.

_I'll kill him. One day I'll kill him._

"That's what I thought, _BOY_... And if anyone asks how you got that black eye?"

Gritting my teeth of hatred but still dead terrified of the man before me, I could only give him what he wanted while I wallowed in defeat.

"... I fell down the stairs."

"Damn right you fell down the stairs - and don't forget it."

_**(Current Date)**_

I jerked awake in a cold sweat from my nightmare. Similar dreams happened on occasion showing me glimpses of my past. I wish I could leave them behind where they belonged, but it seems the experiences were ingrained in me. Eternal memories that would haunt me for as long as I could remember them.

Turning to see the digital clock on my bedside table I saw: _**2:13AM**_ in bright neon green light.

My breathing gradually returned to normal as I dabbed my sticky wet skin with my bedsheets. No matter how long it's been, I could never escape my childhood.

* * *

┬┴┬┴┤寸法の橋渡し├┬┴┬┴

As the coming days passed, it was harder and harder to hold together my facade. I had never had a privileged upbringing, and in fact I came from a broken home. All of my close friends were the same except Jackson who started in _'the projects'_ with us, but his parents had managed to rise out of poverty and find themselves meaningful employment.

They were able to get a mortgage for a beautiful spacious house in the suburbs, even if it was only a 10 minute drive from where we had all grown up. I hadn't realized how much my upbringing really affected me both in my actions and in my world view until landing in Kisuke Tashiro's life.

So much was different. Preconceptions I had believed in were challenged, but my abundant former experience made it difficult to dismiss my beliefs so easily.

_***SLAP***_

The curvaceous blackhead held her hand in the air shaking in her rage.

"What kind of woman do you take me for?!"

"The kind that obviously needs to get laid." I replied back holding my now stinging cheek.

Her eyes widened and mouth dropped open as if she couldn't believe the audacity of my comment.

"Do you have any respect for women?" She asked.

Thinking back to my experiences dating... to all the deceit, lies, and arguments. To when Machelle ran off with her boss and cleaned out our entire apartment including a majority of all my possessions before leaving while I was slaving away at work. To Angel who used dating me as a way to try to get into Jackson's pants, either because of his higher aesthetic appeal or because she was a gold-digger hoping for a free ride. Or to Kashka who I could admit genuinely cared about me, but was in truth psychotic to the point she would drink herself into a stupor and cut herself on nights that I wanted to see my friends instead of staying home with her.

Kashka was the deepest gash that had never fully healed. Ever since parting ways with her, I hadn't been able to look at relationships the same.

_I know quality girls existed, I'm not trying to delude myself or anything, but they felt more like a figment of my imagination after all my failed searching. My experience had conformed me into the skeptic I was today._

"Well -err…" I started dumbly.

"You'd be more likely to get in my pants treating me like a princess than your whore."

_That's unlikely. Statistically speaking white knighting, putting a girl on a pedestal, and admitting anything more than physical attraction is the easiest way to have them running the other direction. The power goes to the one who seemingly cares the least._

"First off, I'd wager you actually have no idea what you want, and 2nd of all I get what your saying, but in reality - where _we_ live, it's probably more of a combination of both, or you know - splitting the difference."

Her cheeks and ears flushed pink while she started stammering. "That's-tha- y-you're wrong."

I took a step closer leaning in invading her bubble of personal space. Her chin lifted and her body language closed which was only more evidence my deduction was spot on. I reached out, sliding some of her hair out of her eyes allowing me to gaze into the windows to her soul.

Inside I could see exactly what I had expected. Lust and desire hidden away behind a mask of sociability. She had to wear her mask for fear of public criticism.

My magnetic attraction to her disappeared instantaneously. I wasn't willing to go through the motions even halfheartedly and play games.

_If she couldn't even be honest with herself, then she would be nothing but trouble in the end. I learned my lesson dating women like her in my past hadn't I? One night stands or no strings attached arrangements were fair game, but I wasn't going to put my heart on the line for anything basic._

She clutched at her wrist shyly and her focus nervously shifted from me to her shoes before she regained some of her composure pressing her hand on my chest forcing me back a foot or two.

"...Maybe if you took me out a few times first." She started.

But I interrupted her raising my hand indicating I had something to say. "Nevermind. It was nice seeing you again, but I'm not going to be staying in the city for much longer. Any kind of relationship wouldn't work out." I stated in indifference.

Her mouth pulled into a irked pout. "So you just wanted to use me and then toss me aside?"

My blood beneath my skin grew hot and my hand squeezed together into a balled fist at my side.

"I never disguised my intentions. In fact, I was much more honest and upfront than you were."

Her eyes shot wide again and a quiet gasp escaped her lips.

Her hand sailed through the air finding its mark yet again.

_***Slap***_

"Pig." She huffed.

Holding my cheek which was ablaze with pain, I walked out of the shop grumbling under my breath with the rhythmic taps of my shoes on the cement leading me away from the weapon store in the sweltering summer heat.

"_Dear lord. Help me with these women."_

* * *

┬┴┬┴┤寸法の橋渡し├┬┴┬┴

Straightening up my room by packing away things that I doubted I would use in the immediate like remote control helicopters, loose bionic assembly parts, childhood toys, and whatnot into boxes and stacking them into my closet.

Looking at the remnants of the boy I only knew as the previous inhabitant of this body, Kisuke, pained me. They were a constant reminder that I didn't belong here. They kept me somber and self-critical which was hard to stand for long. I didn't owe anyone the debt to pretend to be someone that I wasn't. I was who I was unabashedly, and the start of true acceptance of that meant a makeover of my living space into something more personalized.

In my pursuit of change, I stumbled upon several crusted yellowing socks tucked away into the strangest places. Shoved behind his bookshelf, wedged under junk in a dresser drawer, and most concerning was the several all stuffed under the mattress of the bed alongside a tube of lotion.

My suspicions quickly jumped to the most obvious conclusion, and with an adventurous whiff of the socks there could be no doubt. That paired with a folder on the personal computer in my room filled with pornography left me with the impression that the kid was a habitual choker.

I couldn't blame him, but forgive my pun that _that_ behavior is a slippery slope. Immediate gratification as a repeated habit leads to a decline in ambition. This is why I as a reformed choker adopted the lifestyle of No-Fap. It kept me with a clearer head, more focus, increased energy levels, greater aspirations, and an aggression that boosted gains in the gym.

Tossing the disgusting socks and tube of lotion into the waste bin near my computer, I then removed the Mall-Mart grocery bag being used as a trash bag tying the handles into a neat knot and setting it aside to later squirrel away into the downstairs trashcan before taking the trash out to the wheeled sanitation canisters outside.

The day started winding down as I finished packing and organizing the contents of my room into something that was more my style. I had removed all but one of the posters from the walls and rubber banded them and tucked them away into my closet. The only one remaining was a Duelmonsters poster of Yugi Moto and Seto Kiaba squared up in a duel with each of their respective deck headliners engaged in battle, the **Dark Magician** and the **Blue-Eyes White Dragon**. That one was oddly satisfying so I let it stay.

Over the past few days I had accumulated extra personal funds from my card trading stand I set up in front of Kiabaland. Although the main goal was trading up value from card to card, I would also sell cards for cash in the event that the former wasn't possible.

With my savings, and with the knowledge that tomorrow my mother was going to take me to Tokyo with her to accompany me as my chaperone, tonight was my final opportunity to get some last minute shopping done before the tournament.

Grabbing my bulging wallet and knife from my bedside table, I embarked on foot to the shopping district.

* * *

┬┴┬┴┤寸法の橋渡し├┬┴┬┴

A gentle knock played in my ears and not long after the sting of light flashed into my face forcing me to bury my head in my bedding.

"Time to wake u-" A feminine voice started. "What happened here? Everything looks different!"

My brain turned awkwardly chugging along in disruption.

"I err- did a little bit of a makeover in here."

"No kidding. What are these? Basketball posters? Since when have you liked basketball?"

I froze in bed with my brain finally kicking into gear. "Well I always found it... interesting, and you know, they looked cool so I figured I'd pick up a few."

I shielded my eyes from the overhead luminescent bulbs rays able to catch the form of my mom swinging her neck around in confusion. "Okay… Well you need to get up anyways, we're going to leave in 30 minutes and I don't want to be late and hit traffic."

I did most of my preparation the night before, and I had very few things I needed to do before we'd actually leave. Glancing around my newly adjusted living space, I smiled at the fraction of personality I had imparted to my room. This room wasn't Kisuke's anymore, but mine.

Still having some time to kill, I hopped into my desk chair reaching underneath to fiddle with the lever to lower it. For whatever reason, the chair had a bad habit of slowly raising over time. Some type of defect that was annoying but not unmanageable.

Grabbing ahold of the mouse and giving it a good shake, my monitor burst to life showing me my desktop icons and the red/black abstract graphic background.

Opening a browser to pull up my email to re-inspect the the map the tournament building layout they had sent me, I found myself instead staring at the login screen where you input your credentials.

_Oh no…_

I had cleared the browser data alongside the computers temporary and registry files trying to get the machine to boost performance, but what I had forgotten was that would delete all my saved account data which I used to access my emails and social media accounts.

I didn't know the kids passwords for the email, and I hadn't spent the effort to recover the passwords of my social media accounts either. Effectively I lost access to Kisuke's personal email, instagram account, and several other apps and websites in one fell swoop.

Looking to my phone, the only thing I could access since I had deleted several of the apps for storage space to fit VOD's of duels in its memory was his Snapchat, and that didn't have anyone I planned on associating with anymore anyways.

"Well… Whatever. So what I don't have an online footprint. I'll just start a new one."

A fingertip pressed against the screen, I held it watching the app art shake from side to side with a small X at the upper right corner of the icon. I hesitated, but only for a moment before the indecision cleared. I tapped the X bringing up a confirmation box.

"_Are you sure you want to delete this App? [Yes/No]"_

_[Yes]_

I let out a breath I didn't know I was holding. It was empowering letting go of the connections Kisuke formerly held. It cemented that I was someone else, that I was my own person even if I would acknowledge the person who came before me who gave me this precious gift.

I nodded my head in approval reaching out and snatching my deckbox off the top of my whirring computer tower.

Pressing and holding the power button, the machine booted down, and I took the opportunity to retrieve my cards from the deck box.

The black matte sleeves in my hand brought me a nostalgic comfort, but the top two cards of the deck that I flipped over made my heart soar to the heavens every time I laid eyes on them. I was proud and thankful for my win over Dameon which brought this fortune my way. For the power I could now wield at my discretion. I was a legitimate threat to win all of the Y-16 nationals in my opinion. This was just the first step of my journey to claim the illustrious spot of the number 1 duelist. To become this reality's next 'King of Games.'

Grabbing a blueberry muffin from the kitchen, my mother's eyes jerked wide open staring at me.

"What are you wearing?!"

I was sporting white skinny jeans, a tie dye T-shirt, and a gold chain hanging around my neck. My hair was swept across my face and straightened to get it into place. I flashed her a cheeky grin before faux pulling on my shirt and spinning around in mock confusion. "What?" I let out.

"You look like a hoodlum."

"Aw, you know this kinda stuff is all the rage these days. Besides I figured now was as good as time as any to change my look and I think it's pretty neat."

She circled me with a look of skepticism while I took the opportunity to bite into my muffin.

"Well… If you like it i guess. I just think it'll give people the wrong impression is all."

"I picked up some collared shirts too. I promise that if you give it a chance, you'll come to think it looks sharp."

She adopted a knowing smirk resting her chin between her index finger and thumb while scanning over me. "I can't believe my baby is growing up so fast. I'm starting to not be able to recognize you anymore." She said wrapping her arms around me. "Can't you just be good and stay my little darling for a bit longer... I love you so much."

The sentiment choked me up more than her constrictive embrace.

"Yeah, _Mew-two _mom." I improvised in a panicky garble.

I hoped that she wouldn't catch on to my use of a name of a Pokemon in place of an admittance of love. My ability to sidestep the responsibility of loving the genetic parents to the body I new inhabited left me feeling grimy. I was a sleazeball undeserving of the opportunity I had been handed. I could simply lie and parrot back her words, but that seemed even more nasty and disrespectful. As such I found myself choosing between the lesser of two evils.

We embarked on our journey, and all the while I contemplated my moral dilemma in my head.

_Even if I don't love them… I'm sure I could love them. It wouldn't be hard, but it would take some time. They were wonderful people, both of these parents. Far better than a person like me deserved. And if this body was now truly mine, and It would be my vessel for the rest of my life, I'd certainly have to pay homage to its biological creators_.

I made my mind up. I would love them, but progressing to that would take effort and time, but I'd get there eventually.

_I'll have to._

* * *

┬┴┬┴┤寸法の橋渡し├┬┴┬┴

Tokyo was the most population dense area I had ever visited. People swarmed the walkways impatiently going about their business. Tourists plotted around taking in the scenery of towering mega buildings outfitted with reflective glass-like tiles stretching up its entire length.

The cobblestone roads were immaculate and clean baren of filth or trash. Still, the most impressive thing yet had to be all of the eye-catching backlit signs, advertisement posters and billboards, and dispensary machines that ranged from drinks and food, to electronics, cigarettes, and hair products.

Blues, greens, pinks, oranges, and whites streamed my way. Every spectrum of color imaginable was bombarding my retinas in an overload of satisfying yet overwhelming eye candy. I haven't yet grown accustomed to the flashiness of the city affectionately referred to as _The City of Lights_.

One of the strangest things that I had come to realize was that I could read japanese effortlessly. So much so that I hadn't even processed that it was japanese in the first place. My eyes glossed over the Kanji so naturally converting it into words and ideas that I hadn't thought twice about it. It was only after navigating my computer and typing did I find myself spanking keys mindlessly constructing a foreign language.

I couldn't understand how this was possible, but I brushed it off telling myself it must have been one of the "Concessions" that alien said he would make for us. A small but significant quality of life change that made all of the difference.

That being said, now that I knew what I was looking at consciously, it was weird seeing english and japanese side-by-side among different signs and advertisements on the Tokyo streets.

English was far more common than I would have expected in this realities japan, and even more so in Tokyo because it was an assimilation of pop culture.

My mom and I stopped byan eatery named _The Hibachi Expressway_. The dining experience was excellent and the food was even better, Id go as far to say culinary genius. Their signature soy sauce was the single greatest condiment I think I've ever tasted. I have missed out on the joys of authentic japanese cuisine falsely believing to have experienced it before, however the watered down cultural appropriated versions of japanese dishes that I had back in my realities america had nothing on what I just engorged myself on.

Hand in hand, I tugged forward leading my mother into the entrance of the Tokyo International Convention Center which would be hosting the tournament on floors 10-14 for us as duelist, and 5-9th for the general public with relayed livestreams and televised broadcasts.

Massive banners were hung suspended from the ceiling of the first story informing of the tournament's time and place.

The first stories floors where composed of snow-white tiles that squeaked beneath my sneakers with each step. Recalling the map I had looked over before that was in my email, I found the elevators which could be used to bring us up. Stepping inside pulling the full grown woman behind me in stride, I noticed a sign taped above the buttons used for floor selections that stated: "Every floor past the 9th has been disabled by elevator access. Sorry for the inconvenience."

Deciding that I'd go as far up as I could to avoid the labor of climbing all the stairs. My hand reached out pressing the clear "9" button with its yellow backlight activating. The elevator doors closed, and the boxed room jerked into motion with a mechanical hum as we made our ascent.

"I know we're quite early and all, but are you nervous honey?" The woman asked.

"Not at all. I'm going to do great, you'll see."

She seemed taken aback by my confidence, but I wasn't going to adhere to the song and dance of the Kisuke she might have remembered. I had already made my decision.

"Your uncle couldn't believe it when your father told him you'd be on television. Your dad said he was going to record it and brag to all his friends despite how you did. Don't worry, no matter how things turn out, we'll still be proud of you."

_DING!_

The doors slid apart allowing us to vacate out of the cramped space.

There were still many hours before the tournament was set to begin, but even so there were already spectators in the hustle and bustle of moving around on the 9th floor, and I could see what appeared to be a toll booth set up at the stairwell of the convention center disallowing access to the higher levels. Several black suited security guards with ear-pieces occupied that area. As we approached, it became increasingly apparent that only duelists were allowed to continue through the makeshift gates they had set up.

Stopping before the man holding his ear and mumbling into a microphone, I waited patiently for him to acknowledge that I was waiting for him before starting to get impatient after a full 2 minutes of him chatting up the microphone.

"Excuse me?"

"Hm? The souvenir stand is that way." He said pointing off into the distance. "This is the participants entrance."

_He was barely giving me the time of day._

"Yeah, that's why I'm here. I'm a _PART-IC-I-PANT_." I said flashing my ID to the man.

A pinch came from behind as I heard "Don't be rude," from my chaperone.

"My apologies… Kisuke Tashiro." He said straining his eyes squinting at my Id. "Let me just do a quick check… and yup your in the system. Go ahead to the desk right past here to pick up your clearance badge and you'll be able to go up into the higher floors. Unfortunately, parents are not allowed clearance without extenuating circumstances which have to be brought up with the chief of security directly."

"Oh, that's fine. I'll just hang out here and cheer you on Ki. Do you have your phone?"

"Yeah, I have it." I responded.

"Good. When your done with today's rounds, just let me know and I'll meet you here okay? And behave yourself."

"Yeah-yeah. Don't worry." I threw back with a boyish grin.

Turning with a parting wave, I then picked up my badge and climbed the stairs to the next floor.

The entrance to the floor could only be called a waiting room, it was set up with numerous chairs along with plenty of areas for exhibition duels. There was also a team of administrators squirreled away in the corner with a sign that said "Registration and Decklist Submissions."

I figured I could get to that stuff later and instead I wanted to walk around scouting the competition.

I saw duelist's engaged in battle with so many varying monsters and strategies.

Lightsworns, Chaos monsters, Monarchs, Heroes, a few Dark achetype decks, Dragons, gladiator beasts, and so many other things. There had to be no less than 30 people already testing their decks against each other before the contest was even in the full swing of things.

Amongst these people dueling, a few familiar faces stuck out of the crowd which was circled around one duel in particular. Walking up in stride, I cleared my throat behind the arrogant duelist.

The boy turned around spotting me with deep confusion. "What are you doing here? You must be the janitor right? Someone spilled something over in area 6 over there."

"How did you know?" I asked with all the sincerity I could muster at the time without bursting into laughter.

"Because your a talentless scrub." Victor said with a shrug.

"Yeah, well I'm here to mop the floor with you. Don't you dare go losing to anyone else and ruining my fun."

"Tch. Don't act big. You barely made it. Your just fodder for the rest of us to boost the actual players scores. No idea how you managed to make the cut. The admins behind the event must be slipping."

"So you have been keeping tabs on me. I'm honored."

"You should be. The fact I had to use any brainpower thinking about you was too much." He said ramming me with his shoulder forcing me to knock into a person to my right.

"Maybe if you actually got some sleep instead of spending all your free time fingering your butthole you could manage to be less socially inept."

A disgusted sidewards glance was all the response I got out of him before I heard him utter something under his breath.

"_Fag."_

* * *

┬┴┬┴┤寸法の橋渡し├┬┴┬┴

_**A/N:**__ Thanks to everyone who left a review. In all honesty, I don't have an excuse for the long break and how long this chapter took to get out, so I won't pretend_. I finally put my nose to the grindstone and pumped it out though so better late than never I guess. Let me know your opinions, good or bad. Reviews will be appreciated.


	5. Chapter 5

**Yu-Gi-Oh: Bridging The Dimensions**

**Article 5 - Chapter 5 - A Shadow From an Unfamiliar Past**

* * *

_**Warnings: I do not own Yu-Gi-Oh, it's intellectual property is owned by none other than Konami and Kazuki Takahashi. If I owned Yu-Gi-Oh - it wouldn't be as riddled with incompetant duelists, ruling errors, and ass-pull bullshit as it was. So there.**_

**-Also, still accepting Beta readers! Hit me up with a PM-**

_**A/N:**__ The MC's deck is not very exciting to read about, so I'm taking the liberty to skip through unimportant parts of duels, alongside whole games during matches in favor of getting the tournament over and getting to his new exciting deck which will be much more fun to both read, and write about. (Plus getting to Central Duel Academy.) Let me know how you feel about how I've done so far in a review about the duel's structure, as well as the story as a whole. Thanks and enjoy the chapter._

* * *

┬┴┬┴┤_神の起源├┬┴┬┴_

_**(Last Chapter: Excerpt)**_

"Tch. Don't act big. You barely made it. Your just fodder for the rest of us to boost the actual players scores. No idea how you managed to make the cut. The admins behind the event must be slipping."

"So you have been keeping tabs on me. I'm honored."

"You should be. The fact I had to use any brainpower thinking about you was too much." He said ramming me with his shoulder forcing me to knock into a person to my right.

"Maybe if you actually got some sleep instead of spending all your free time fingering your butthole you could manage to be less socially inept."

A disgusted sidewards glance was all the response I got out of him before I heard him utter something under his breath.

"_Fag."_

* * *

┬┴┬┴┤ Chapter 5 ├┬┴┬┴

┬┴┬┴┤寸法の橋渡し├┬┴┬┴

Watching on the sidelines while one of Viktor's goons from his dueling clan figuratively face planted was beyond entertaining. He was one of the thickest, most massive bodied male's who couldn't have been short of 300 pounds demolished his opponent with his variant of Gladiator Beast lockdown.

"You just got shit on by _lard ass_. What were you doing out there? Your making **AAA** look like a joke." Viktor said reprimanding his subordinate.

"Gladiator beast's are too strong. It's no wonder they are one of the most underprinted archetypes, their plain overpowered."

Trudging along reluctant of losing out on hearing all the juicy bits, I knew that my time would be better spent absorbing the other contestants' decks and playstyles to memory. After an hour or two of meandering around, and more competition showing up ironically causing the warm up duels to dwindle, I made my way to the registration desk to get that out of the way.

The decklist submission was actually insanely easy and was completely unlike my worlds where you simply wrote down all your cards on a piece of paper. Instead, there was a machine here that you inserted your deck into, and it scanned the entirety of the deck and side deck within 10 seconds, then printed out a sheet the admins promptly stored before we could open the machines drawer and retrieve our cards.

I overheard from the local crowd that the machine also could pick out counterfeit cards but was unsure of the validity of the claim.

Waiting was the hard part. Patience is a virtue, one that I was quite lacking in if I were to be honest with myself. I shuffled my deck repeatedly in my grasp, the ingrained compulsion not doing much to ease the growing tension in my heart, but was a time sink to keep me busy while the event was still starting.

_I need a good showing… If I do well enough here, it's very possible that scholarship opportunities for central duel academy would open up to me. That the dependency on loans and my parents would be unnecessary._

I learned many lessons from my true father even though very few of them were intentional. Seeing him pile debt on debt to indulge his impure desires while fighting not to drown in the hole he dug himself made a lasting impression. I avoided loans like the plague and tried my damndest to remain self sufficient to prevent needing to rely on anyone but myself. Owing real people favors and money was even worse than institutions. It was a different kind of debt, one with more potentially catastrophic consequences.

One of the fondest memories of my old man was funnily enough him getting as ass beaten by a loan shark's debt collector. Him being restrained and bludgeoned mercilessly with a bat to emphasize their desire to reclaim their money. His grunts and tortured wails were a melodious symphony played by the orchestra of the rowdy henchmen. It was a display of universal karma establishing equivalency.

"**Contestant 126 - Kisuke Tashiro, and Contestant 93 - Homura Ibachi to area 51."** The intercom boomed.

The announcement broke me from my reverie. My mask of professionalism was nowhere to be found. The rapid beat of my heart yearning to jump into the duel, the adrenaline coursing through my veins left my fingertips clammy and cold. My willpower couldn't overpower the grin still plastered on my face.

Taking a deep breath and waltzing into my appropriate station, I faced down the odd blue haired duelist with a trenchcoat in the dead of summer.

_What a weirdo._

"What kind of deck do you run?" The opponent across me asked.

"Think of the most horrid abomination you can imagine, and then multiply _that_ by cancer."

"It can't be that bad… you're a Bronze duelist with a _horrendous_ win rate."

_Bronze? I thought I was Silver now? Right - I'm bronze in Matches and of course they would judge me by that rating._

All I could manage back was an apathetic shrug while still grinning ear to ear.

His face was a blur, but that was because it was of zero importance. My ability to visualize my opponent as my late father left me with the uncontrollable urge to annihilate them without a hint of mercy. They would fall to me just like _he_ did. They would be eliminated with extreme prejudice, like everyone who stands in my way of my aspirations.

"**Match Game - Best of 3 - 8000 Life Points. Duelist's ready?"**

Our Duel Disks produced a hologram of a singular die each. His die roll resulting in a four, while mine was a mere two.

"I'll be going first." The faceless duelist announced. Without delay he played a card from his hand, the continuous spell card **Level Limit - Area B**. It was a restrictive spell forcing all level 4 or higher monsters into defense position until the card left the field.

_Rogue Anti-meta? Prepare to get dumpstered._

"...Then I lay a facedown and set a monster."

**END PHASE.**

_Short and simple. I couldn't ask for a better first opponent._

Drawing a card and surveying my hand, I evaluated the order I'd play my cards for maximal efficiency.

I settled on playing **Upstart Goblin,** first tossing it into a spell/trap slot in my Duel Disk.

(+1000LP **| Kisuke: 8000 - Homura: 9000**)

"Next I play **Reinforcement of the Army**, searching **Stratos** to my hand from my deck… and why not normal summon him while I'm at it?"

A warrior clad in a blue uniform top with white leggings materialized onto my field. A futuristic jetpack that had the aesthetic appeal of wings was strapped to his back while a white facemask with an embedded red gemstone safely hid the identity of the man by obscuring his face.

**Elemental HERO Stratos** _**(ATK: 1800 DEF: 300)**_

Since there are no other monsters on the field, the only choice of effects I have is his effect to add a "HERO" monster from my deck to my hand.

"I use **Strato**'s to search out my **Destiny Hero - Disk Commander**, then I'll discard him to the grave with my next card, **Destiny Draw** allowing me to draw 2 more cards.

The following minute of the duel was stale, consisting of me just cycling through my deck with an assortment of draw cards. **Allure of Darkness**, **Hand destruction**, **Trade-In**, **Card Destruction**, until I had drawn into **Premature Burial**.

(-800LP **| Kisuke: 7200 - Homura: 9000**)

I had set one spell from my hand face down, and the time to use it was nearing.

Sliding **Premature Burial** into a spell/trap zone, I targeted my **Disk Commander** in the grave without any response from my opponent.

_This person is nothing compared to Dameon._

The ground of my projected field fractured allowing the familiar silver robot not taller than a foot and a half to break free from my graveyard landing in my monster zone in attack mode, static cracking in the air all the while.

**Destiny HERO - Disk Commander** _**(ATK: 300 DEF: 300)**_

I drew my two cards in haste before continuing to thin my deck out with draw spells.

_I need to get to my combo pieces already!_

"It's the first turn and your already through more than half your deck!" My opponent exclaimed throwing their hands into the air in frustration.

"Oh yeah, My draw power is _REAL GOOD_. Hmph, now I'll play my face-down **Giant Trunade** sending my **Premature Burial**, my face down, your face down, and your **Level Limit - Area B** all to our hands."

I played another copy of** Upstart Goblin** in order to draw another card.

(+1000LP **| Kisuke: 7200 - Homura: 10000**)

"You weren't lying. Your deck goes beyond cancerous, but I don't see how drawing your whole deck is gonna end with a win for you. It's not like your playing Exodia."

"My win condition? Don't need one, so don't worry buddy, I just like drawing - I swear."

My concentration was starting to unravel, I needed to focus in order to not misplay the order of my spells so I could keep drawing cards. The most important thing was to focus on the cards that were still left in my deck and calculate the rate of probability that I would encounter each specific card. **Allure of Darkness**, **Trade-in**, and **Destiny Draw** can all get rid of Destiny HERO cards, so knowing which ones to get rid of with each spell would change based on what was remaining in my hand and deck as well as other cards I'd need to get rid of.

Using another of my **Allure of Darkness** from my hand, I drew another 2 cards before banishing my **Shadowpriestess of Ohm** in hand.

"And now I play…"

* * *

┬┴┬┴┤寸法の橋渡し├┬┴┬┴

Only 6 cards remained in my deck, but I ran out of draw cards that I could play this turn.

"**Entering Battle Phase."**

Poking at my Duel Disk caused a _PING_ to sound before my heroic warrior **Stratos** jumped into action attacking Homura's only face down monster.

"Ha! My face down is **Penguin Soldier**. Return both of your monsters to your hand!"

With the 6 cards that were already in my hand, I now had 8 cards after returning both my monsters on the field to my hand which meant that if I ended my turn without doing anything I'd need to discard two cards.

_Hmmm… Fuck it, I'll just discard. Can't risk my opponent destroying any of my spells. I need them all._

**END PHASE.**

Discarding two monsters from my hand, I passed to my opponent.

"I barely have to do anything and you'll run out of cards soon enough. Unless you plan on getting through my 11,000 lifepoints somehow?"

I didn't need to brag, or say anything. My gift to my opponent is that I'm allowing him to continue his blissful ignorance for a bit longer before shattering his world. The calm before the impending merciless slaughter I would unleash.

He re-activated **Level Limit- Area B** from his hand, threw a facedown spell or trap, and set a monster face down.

**END PHASE.**

I almost forgot how slow most of the old school yugioh decks were without synchro and exceed summoning. _I bet most people would freak if they saw how fast and dynamic the game would become. If they only knew what I knew._

My draw phase let me draw a card leaving 5 cards remaining in my deck.

_Whatever I do, I can't accidentally overdraw. I'll lose instantaneously if I misplay and I'm forced to draw when I have zero cards in my deck._

"I activate **Destiny Draw** from my hand, ditching **Destiny HERO - Diamond Dude** to the graveyard to draw 2.

_I just need 1 more card for the combo! Okay I have 3 cards left in my deck… How unlucky would it be if the last card in the deck was the card I needed?_

"I play **Trade-In** Discarding **Destiny HERO - Plasma** to the grave to draw another 2 cards."

The monster's golden spell circles art, etched with black, welcomed me as I glanced through my newly drawn cards.

_The last piece. I can get the combo rolling!_

"I discard the legendary **Dark Magician of Chaos** to special summon this **Dark Grepher** from my hand." I said, a fiendish warrior with short unpigmentented white windswept hair appearing on my field in defense position. **Dark Grepher** _**(ATK: 1700 DEF: 1600). **_His glinting red eyes displaying the demonic spirit inhabiting the monsters body while his silver sword shone brilliantly in contrast to the rest of his dark colored equipment.

Playing the spell card from my hand **Premature Burial**, I quickly selected my previous discard target to resurrect from the graveyard.

(-800LP **| Kisuke: 6400 - Homura: 11000**)

"RISE! DARK MAGICIAN OF CHAOS!" I bellowed. **Dark Magician of Chaos** _**(ATK: 2800 DEF: 2600)**_

Victory was within my grasp. It was so close I could smell its succulent aroma teasing me.

I thought about what card I could pull from my graveyard, but without a real need for any card, the inner troll in me broke free.

I fetched a copy of **Upstart Goblin** from my Graveyard, adding it to my hand.

"And now…" I started, slapping the spell I retrieved from the grave onto my Duel Disk. "I draw the final card in my deck. I win."

"Uhh… That's not how that works bud…" The boy across me said struck with confusion.

(+1000LP **| Kisuke: 6400 - Homura: 12000**)

"It is after I play this." I slid **Monster Reborn** into the duel disk reviving a **Dark Nephthys** from my Graveyard. "His effect makes me destroy a spell or trap on the field if there is one available, so I destroy my own **Premature Burial**!"

"..._WHAAAT? Why? Did you forget I had one?_"

My legendary spellcaster left the field due to **Premature Burial'**s effect, and because of his own effect he was banished.

"Why? For the most busted card in the game of course, are you ready? I don't think you are because you might need some chemotherapy after this one." I said with glee. "**Dimension Fusion**!"

(-2000LP **| Kisuke: 4400 - Homura: 12000**)

**Shadowpriestess of Ohm**, **Dark Magician of Chaos**, and another **Dark Nephthys** warped to my field while I returned **Dimension Fusion** back to my hand with **D.M.O.C,** "-and now I destroy your face down spell or trap card."

**Dark Nephthys** _**(ATK: 2400 DEF: 1600), **_**D.M.O.C.** _**(ATK: 2800 DEF: 2600), **_and **Shadowpriestess of Ohm** _**(ATK: 1700 DEF: 1600).**_

The wings of the intimidating Hell Butterfly stirred up a black tempest shattering the card in his back row.

_Mirror force huh? I was worried about nothing._

Then I use **Shadowpriestess of Ohm's** effect destroying and banishing **Dark Magician of Chaos.**"

(-800LP **| Kisuke: 4400 - Homura: 11200**)

_-And now its safe to use my last combo piece._

"I play the continuous spell card: **Spell Economics**. Now any time I'd pay life points to activate a spell card, I just don't."

"Wait… so..." He seemed to be piecing it together in his head.

"That's right, I play **Dimension Fusion** again, summoning **DMOC **returning **Dimension Fusion** to my hand, then tribute him again with **Shadowpriestess's** effect."

(-800LP **| Kisuke: 4400 - Homura: 10400**)

I then reactivated **Dimension Fusion** for free from my hand and retributed **DMOC** to do 800 damage.

(-800LP **| Kisuke: 4400 - Homura: 9600**)

_Unless he had some way to stop the chain thats game. What an unbalanced loop._

"That's the cheapest thing I've ever seen! Don't you have any dignity bro?!"

"Dignity? What's that? I'm here to win baby, and I'm not scared to play the most degenerate things to get the W."

(-800LP **| Kisuke: 4400 - Homura: 8800**)

(-800LP **| Kisuke: 4400 - Homura: 8000**)

(-800LP **| Kisuke: 4400 - Homura: 7200**)

(-800LP **| Kisuke: 4400 - Homura: 6400**)

(-800LP **| Kisuke: 4400 - Homura: 5600**)

(-800LP **| Kisuke: 4400 - Homura: 4800**)

(-800LP **| Kisuke: 4400 - Homura: 4000**)

"Fine, I get it, I forfeit. Geeze!"

"**Winner: Contestant 126: Kisuke Tashiro - **_**(1-0-0) Best of three Match.**_**"**

The kid was literally scratching his head looking through his side deck which I found hilarious. I guess he didn't know exactly what to side in to counter my strategy. I saw him sub out about 8 cards that I figured were to stall my plays and disrupt the loop. I only subbed out 2 of my cards, but I didn't let him know that. I shuffled my side deck and main deck together while he just looked at me with his mouth hanging open before I picked the 40 cards out of the deck that would be my side deck this duel.

He didn't stand a chance. He went first and set 3 backrow (spell and/or traps), but after resolving **Giant Trunade** and deck thinning, I got the combo off again without a hitch making my record _**(2-0-0)**_ winning the match and pushing me to the next round.

Ideally I won't drop any best of matches so I can compete for the very top spots, but It should be possible to reach top 16 to receive prizes even with one or two matches dropped and needing to work myself through the loser's bracket.

I had finished my match must faster than most of the other contestants so I got the privilege of walking around to scout my next potential opponent, but to my surprise the match was already over.

Looking at the auto updating bracket board, I scanned down until I found the match data I wanted.

It seems destiny's hand was at play here forcing me to duel the former Kisuke's best friend. The ghost I wish I could forget about, but my pride and conscious wouldn't let me.

_**Aketo Kenma**__**(2-0-0)**__._

_If I never returned his red-eye's card or something of similar value I doubted I could face myself in the mirror. The lingering doubt that the thing I held most sacred would be tarnished, my loyalty, and if I disregard it once, it would be that much easier to do it again. I hate to admit it, but more than anything I fear becoming more like the abomination I despise and rightly disowned in my past, my 'father' in nothing but name._

_As the 107th seed beat the 22nd seed 2-0 that quick? Maybe it was a lucky break and his opponent bricked?_

Unease afflicted me before I swallowed it with my logic.

_It doesn't matter who it is, or what deck they are running. I'll win no matter what!_

* * *

┬┴┬┴┤寸法の橋渡し├┬┴┬┴

Aketo refused to even acknowledge my existence. He pretended like He didn't even know me.

"As soon as this tournament is over I'm selling off pieces of my deck to return a Red eye's to you. I'm not stealing your card bro."

"..."

Nothing. Nothing I said could get him to budge despite the fact I could swear if looks could kill I would be murdered by now. The piercing gaze making it apparent that apologizing and empty words would do nothing, that I had burned the bridge and he wouldn't accept me back so easily. But it wasn't like I wanted or needed his acceptance, I only needed to return what was rightfully his. Of all the things I am, I refuse to be a thief, especially to a wholesome individual who wasn't complete trash. Exceptions could be made, but strict conditions would need to be met so I could still consider myself a functioning member of society.

I won the first dice roll, so I opted to go first. My hand was BONKERS, I first turn killed him without even letting him play the game.

"**Winner: Contestant 126: Kisuke Tashiro - **_**(1-0-0) Best of three Match.**_**"**

I keep trying to tell everyone **Dimension Fusion** is fucking busted, maybe whoever is in control of the banlist will see some of the disgusting things this card enables and come to their senses.

The boy across from me grit his teeth glaring my way with ferocity. His brown eyes reflecting what a piece of shit I must be, but hey, _no mercy_ brother.

Oddly enough, he didn't side in a single card for me.

_An interesting strategy now that he got to see my deck and I don't really have a good idea what his deck even was. He must think he's good to go. But then again He now gets to decide who goes first, and I suppose if he isn't siding any cards he's planning to go first. I guess I'll side in some of my going 2nd cards._

Shuffling my side deck and main deck together, I one by one plucked out 40 cards returning them to my side deck before indicating I was ready to begin.

"**Match - Game 2 of 3 - 8000 Life Points. Duelist's ready?"**

My deduction was spot on, he took the first turn just as I predicted.

Towering buildings rose from the area all around distorting the air with a thick blue aura. The skyscrapers before me had every window lit resulting in an unarguable urban beauty.

How Ironic he would play this card at Tokyo Nationals, heh.

The spell card Future Fusion was sitting in a spell and trap zone, and 5 dragons filed into his graveyard with minimal delay.

"Since two **Eclipse Wyvern**'s were sent to the graveyard, I banish 2 dragons from my deck."

Looking into the LCD display on my duel disk like it was a crystal ball that held my future, I gasped in shock, not able to believe my eyes.

_Is… is this why he prefers Match duels, and Tag team duels at that? To abuse 'that' card?!_

A card with a vicious golden plated dragon was now sitting in Aketo's banished.

_**Victory Dragon**__? I mean, sure having the power to win not only a duel, but an entire match was a bit of an overloaded effect, but the fact he can't be special summoned, the tribute summon must be all dragons, and the lifepoints must be reduced to zero by __**Victory Dragon**__'s own attack making it a difficult, unreliable win condition that goes beyond gimmicky._

"I banish a light and a dark monster from my grave to special summon **Darkflare Dragon** from my hand." The black and purple dragon unfurled its mighty wings with a quick jerk sending a magnetic gust to whip my T-shirt against my chest. The creature's yellow gemstone embedded in its chest beamed light reminiscent of a carebear, but the light wasn't condensed and faded as it traveled petering out along the way. "-and since one of the monsters I banished was a an **Eclipse Wyvern**, I get to add one of the dragons I banished from my deck to my hand, _MY_… **Red-Eyes Darkness Metal Dragon**."

His **Darkflare Dragon** _**(ATK: 2400 DEF: 1200), **_vanished into a bending vortex from the field and in his place materialized a greater monstrosity. A copy of the very card that was both the cause of the drama between both of us, and the reason I was able to get the majority of cards for this current deck build. It was an apt obstacle I'd need to overcome.

**Red-Eyes Darkness Metal Dragon **_**(ATK: 2800 DEF: 2400) **_joined the fray in attack mode.

_**Boop.**_

I could see that he was reviving a Lightpulsar Dragon from the grave, but I didn't respond because regardless of if it was only the first turn, and even if he got out the 3 dragons to tribute for Victory Dragon this turn, it's not like it has any way to protect itself.

And so the new hologram hit the field, A steel blue dragon with silver highlights stamped its heavy feet in place letting out an aggressive roar.

"And now I normal summon **Cannon Soldier **_**(ATK: 1400 DEF: 1300)**_. Your not the only one that can First turn kill _old pal_. Trying to use my signature win condition against me? Who do you think taught you how to play?"

A janky purple mech spawned mounted with a dirty green gatling gun resting on its head… or maybe its back, it was difficult to see from the front and where its gun was mounted was of little to no meaningful importance.

"I sacrifice **Red-eyes** and you take 500 damage."

The legendary dragon crumbled to dust, the **Cannon Soldier**'s mounted weapon lurching into action. A white flash from the muzzle alerted me to the attack despite still being in the main phase 1.

(-500LP **| Kisuke: 7500 - Aketo: 8000**)

"And now I sacrifice **Lightpulsar Dragon** next for another 500 damage."

He was grinning wildly with the opportunity to first turn kill me, and to give him props, I've never seen a Cannon Soldier deck use the Red-Eye's and Lightpulsar combo, and it was fairly ingenious, but it wasn't without weaknesses.

The blue and silver dragon followed in Red-eyes footsteps crumbling to dust as well, and the gun mounted on the mech's back burst into light simultaneously.

(-500LP **| Kisuke: 7000 - Aketo: 8000**)

"And now **Lightpulsar**'s effect activates resurrecting **Red**...**Eyes-**?"

I slid a card from my hand into the graveyard tapping at my LCD screen preemptively so there was no way I could miss my activation window. "-Not if my **D.D. Crow** has anything to say about it."

Having already banished his only dark dragon target in his graveyard, his realization was priceless. An eye twitched but he quickly swallowed whatever irritation he had or at least made a conscious effort to hide it.

I very rarely missed the timing of my chained cards and effects anymore, I wasn't a robot, but as someone not born into this world where the norm of their popular card game was vastly different even if it was remiecent, I was quite proud of my rapid progression.

"I discard a **Thunder Dragon** from my hand to add 2 more of them from my deck to my hand." He said sifting through his deck.

**END PHASE.**

My turn was upon me, but it seems that even if my defensive cards I sided in to be safe did manage to save me, it also left my hand in the most bricked states I've ever seen. All the spells I could have wanted, and no way to use them.

After drawing and entering my Main phase 1, I had little choice but to set a monster and a facedown in the same column, the classically named _T-set_ maneuver. I wish that I had any monster who could beat over Cannon Soldier in my hand to at least get that guy off the field, but oh well, at least both of the guy's **Red-Eyes**' are banished, and I find it very likely the 3rd one he would be playing he gave to me. I have little to worry about, unless he **Dimension Fusion**s me or something.

**END PHASE.**

After drawing, my duel disk sounded from my wrist **"Entering Main Phase 1."**

My face down monster was wiped from the field in a crash of lightning, and confused about what just destroyed it, I saw an art of a card I couldn't believe Aketo had.

_**Raigeki**__?! The only reason that card isn't banned is because its one of the most rare spell cards in the game. I know he won some sweepstakes or something but did they give him a whole 'lot' of invaluable cards?!_

"I discard a card from my hand to activate my next spell card."

Eyeballing the Duel Disk's screen, I saw one of the worst cards I could have hoped for.

_**Different Dimension Reincarnation**__? Seriously? That had to be his top deck, if not he would have played it last turn and just ended me then._

I thought back to my top deck versus Dameon that saved my ass out of NOWHERE and realized that I also had my fair share of luck, and me complaining about others wasn't going to change the facts, so I shook my head irked for only a second before accepting my current misfortune.

One of the **Red-Eyes Darkness Metal Dragon**s _**(ATK: 2800 DEF: 2400), **_ returned from his banished to the field. Predictably he then used his effect to bring back a **Lightpulsar Dragon** from the graveyard and then got rid of both with his **Cannon Soldier**.

(-500LP **| Kisuke: 6500 - Aketo: 8000**)

(-500LP **| Kisuke: 6000 - Aketo: 8000**)

In all honesty, I would have forfeited if there were any rules constraining time for the matches, but since there were none, I didn't want to.

_I'd take the L with as much dignity as I can preserve._

…

(-500LP **| Kisuke: 1000 - Aketo: 8000**)

_Only 2 more times… Slowly losing is the worst, this is the type of duels I make my opponents suffer through. _

Sitting though all his actions without any cards to activate in response brought a wee bit of clarity of how toxic decks like this were.

**Cannon Solder** burst to dust tumbling to the ground and another white flash materialized from nowhere.

(-500LP **| Kisuke: 500 - Aketo: 8000**)

_Why would he destroy Cannon Soldier when he could have just won with it?_

"I banish a light and dark monster from my graveyard to special summon my **Darkflare Dragon **_**(ATK: 2400 DEF: 1200, **_ from my hand."

The **Eclipse Wyvern** he banished returned the banished **Victory Dragon** to his hand.

That motherfucker's trying to hit me with **Victory Dragon**! Who does he think I am?!

The three dragons disappeared from the field, tributes for the ornamental golden dragon coming out to play. In all honesty, this was the most impressive draconic hologram I've seen to date. Its visage was glowed green where the eyes should have been. Its maw hung open displaying the razor sharp pearl colored jagged teeth ready to rip a duelist's future to shreds.

**Victory Dragon** _**(ATK: 2400 DEF: 3000)**_

"**Entering Battle Phase."**

"I SURRENDER."

A frown spread on the kids face across from me.

_Did he really think I'd just let him attack me for free and win the match rather than take the 1 game loss? Does he think im retarded? Especially since I'm his former TAG partner, shits a gimmick dude, you've gotta' not know what __**Victory Dragon**__ does to fall for that one buddy. Still, being forced into surrendering was humiliating. I hated it._

"**Winner: Contestant 107: Aketo Kenma - **_**(1-1-0) Best of three Match.**_**"**

* * *

┬┴┬┴┤寸法の橋渡し├┬┴┬┴

_**A/N (more detailed):**__ So- like I said above, I'm not sure if I like how I'm covering the duels. Because they are 'best of three matches,' it would take forever to cover them all, they would be kinda repetitive, not to mention the MC uses a "FTK draw" deck, so reading about him playing all the draw cards he can over and over seems wholesomely unnecessary. This problem of covering matches only becomes problematic in tournament settings since most duels are singles outside tournaments, and the MC will be using a different deck after this tournament due to several reasons I don't want to spoil. (But I will tell you guys its not going to be a FTK or gimmick deck, it'll be a more aggressive beatdown/utility deck.) Like I said above, please let me hear your opinions so I can take them under advisement and figure out how I'm going to cover the rest of this tournament arc before Kisuke joins Central Duel Academy. Thanks All!_


	6. Chapter 6

**Yu-Gi-Oh: Bridging The Dimensions**

* * *

**Article 6 - Chapter 6 - I Never Worry**

_**Warnings: I do not own Yu-Gi-Oh, its intellectual property is owned by none other than Konami and Kazuki Takahashi. If I owned Yu-Gi-Oh - it wouldn't be as riddled with incompetent duelists, ruling errors, and ass-pull bullshit as it was. So there.**_

**-Also, still accepting Beta readers! Hit me up with a PM-**

* * *

┬┴┬┴┤_神の起源├┬┴┬┴_

_**(Last Chapter: Excerpt)**_

**Victory Dragon** _**(ATK: 2400 DEF: 3000)**_

"**Entering Battle Phase."**

"I SURRENDER."

A frown spread on the kid's face across from me.

_Did he really think I'd just let him attack me for free and win the match rather than take the 1 game loss? Does he think I'm retarded? Especially since I'm his former TAG partner, shits a gimmick dude, you've gotta' not know what __**Victory Dragon**__ does to fall for that one buddy. Still, being forced into surrendering was humiliating. I hated it._

"**Winner: Contestant 107: Aketo Kenma - **_**(1-1-0) Best of three Match.**_**"**

* * *

┬┴┬┴┤ Chapter 6 ├┬┴┬┴

┬┴┬┴┤寸法の橋渡し├┬┴┬┴

The caramel brown haired teen paced back and forth at the baseline of the arena markings rubbing his buzzed head.

Aketo sucked in air as if it would be his last breath. It shot back out through his nostrils flaring from the action.

"**Match - Game 3 of 3 - 8000 Life Points. Duelist's ready?"**

"Let's get at this already. We'll put it all out there and get _**over ourselves**_."

"_Don't hit him, it's not worth it. It isn't worth it, so just don't hit him. Just don't hit him_." He mumbled in gaps between heavy breaths.

_Hit me? This guy has legit problems. You're the one that has to get over yourself. I already told you I'd give you a Red-Eye's back, didn't I? Frick'n Dramaqueen._

He kept pacing around, back and forth. Back and forth bouncing around on his toes while he stared off into the distance.

"Heart of the cards, guide me."

He stepped into the designated area with another wind of confidence carrying him into our duel.

"I'll be going first," I announced. I drew my starting hand, plus one of course.

Looking down to my hand, I accidentally inhaled my spit choking up a bit with deep rib rattling coughs.

_**WOW… Even I can't believe it.**_

"**Main Phase 1."**

"I play the spell card **Allure of Darkness**, drawing two and banishing a dark monster from my hand," I announced chucking a card into my banish. "Then I play **Spell Economics**. _Dun, dun, DUN!_ Busted card time!"

Aketo stared blankly at me, unable to express any emotion on his face.

**Dimension Fusion** hit my field, the audio effect sounding like a typhoon as **Dark Magician of Chaos **_**(ATK: 2800 DEF: 2600)**_ was yanked back from my removed from play.

The black and gold hieroglyphic spell circle gave way to a decked-out leather magician carrying a terrifying rod spilling with intense arcane energy.

My **Dimension Fusion** landed back in my hand.

Aketo's pupils shone with defiance, unwilling to accept the fact I could be holding the last piece of the combo.

"No…"

I only solemnly nodded, indicating that it was coming.

"There's NOOO WAY."

"Yes way…" I assured him.

My wrist flicked down, a card hitting a monster zone on my duel disk.

Before me, a priestess burst into being, her blue academic robes laced with precious metals and stones. A black headdress convening with the shadows covered everything above her nose, white locks extended down as far as her belly button. A red switch in her delicate grip glowed an ominous red.

"Did anyone watch him? Did he even shuffle his deck? Hello?!" Aketo shouted over to the analysis desk.

**Shadowpriestess of Ohm** _**(ATK: 1700 DEF: 1600)**_

"Hey, No hard feelings. Right?" I asked, extending my arm out towards him tentatively.

Aketo's lip curled. "I will never forgive you."

"I'm trying to be civil here. I'm going to return you a Red-Eyes on the last day of the tournament. I already have it all worked out. I really just needed to get my shit together and work on my solo's so we could both get into duel academy."

"You're a psychopath. I couldn't stand thinking you were dumb enough to fucking forget our commitment, but that's not it at all, is it? No. All these years after, we pledge to be a Duo, and now I find out the truth. I caught you. You're pathetic. You faked having Aspergers so you could sabotage me, Right? I should've known. **NOONE IS THAT GODDAMN HEAVY...** not without 'trying' to be. You're soooooooo dumb. Thought I wouldn't notice? No. Now I know exactly how hard you were sandbagging me. When I think back, it disgusts me remembering you playing the victim you sympathy seeking cunt."

"...What?" I was dazed by the barrage of information.

A blur swept through my line of sight, my head jerking back.

A high pitch ring alongside a nostalgic crack overwhelmed me.

A white flash consumed everything.

My knees wobbled.

The high pitch ring buzzed like static in my ears.

I found myself struggling to find my footing staring down to my feet.

The fog of uncertainty lifted, my motor function returning in full.

_That fucker hit me?!_

A referee jumped in front of me running his mouth a mile a minute. His white and black shirt had a red splotch near the collar I found myself staring at.

_Chicken Parmesan? Meatball Marinara? Spaghetti? How did he get that stain?_

"How many fingers? How many fingers are there? How many?" He asked over and over.

_Spaghetti? … No, maybe Meatball Marinara?_

Somebody's hand kept waving past my face, over and over again. I noticed the thumb tucked into their palm.

"Four…" I answered.

The top of my cheek stung with heat like a fire kindled beneath my skin.

"How many eggs in a dozen?"

"Uh… Twelve? Yeah. Duh."

The referee lifted both of his arms into the air.

"Reach for your right one."

I complied, leaning right and making an apathetic reaching motion.

"Great. Everything looks good. It looks like you're probably concussion free. If you'd like to file a formal complaint against the contestant or you would like help consulting about further medical options, feel free to text this number." The ref said, sliding a business card into my palm.

I searched left and right until seeing Aketo being dragged out forcefully by a blacked-out security team.

"So… what happens now?" I asked the ref.

"You advance."

"What about Aketo?"

"Disqualification."

"...Just like that?"

"Just like that…"

I was badgered by the referee for another 5 minutes before he ducked out and was gone without a trace.

I wandered into the bathroom, a long mirror stretched past 6 sinkholes down the countertop. A strong, uniformly bright fluorescent bulb illuminated the space directly in front of the mirror.

Taking a deep breath, I slid in front of the mirror. A round reddish swelling happening right below my eye down to the cheek.

"Yup. He got me pretty good. Asked me a bunch of questions, got me confused, then sucker-punches me. Fucking classy." I mumbled to myself.

My heart trembled.

_So… Aketo thinks I faked having 'Ass-Burgers' disease or something? ... I sold his card… then displayed hyper competence... That probably looked pretty bad. Okay, yeah, I can kind of see where he might be coming from. How does this shit always happen to me, Is my life actually a soap opera? ...So, Do I have 'Ass-Burgers'?_

* * *

┬┴┬┴┤寸法の橋渡し├┬┴┬┴

A silver mechanized dragon crashed to the field. A spectrum of different colors of lights bathed the field, displaying the summon as a special summon.

**Cyber Dragon **_**(ATK: 2100 DEF: 1600)**_

The kid's eyes never looked up to me, from what I could pick up he had some oppressive anti-social tendencies.

His arm slapped the Duel Disk meanwhile ogling the floor, his new monster spawned in place.

A ridiculous trash-bot looking device appearing on his field. At the top, a translucent fishbowl housed the internal motherboard and processor. Beneath the housing helmet was a red metal body that attached card launchers and two rubber tracks that were used to move.

_**Bzzzzz**_. The machine whirred while the monster took its standby animation.

**Card Trooper **_**(ATK: 400 DEF: 400)**_

"I P-play… Uhh.." The kid fumbled around, his cheeks turning red as his stuttering became more pronounced.

_Machine Duplication?!_

The Duelist's card brought out another two **Card Trooper**s out of his deck spilling onto the field.

"I mill 9…"

He chucked a pile of cards from the top of his deck into the graveyard.

Silhouettes of cards zipped over the field, the shadows sucked up by the card troopers making their size triple. Its presence became more imposing until each Card trooper maxed out at 1900 ATK each.

**Card Trooper **_**(ATK: 1900 DEF: 400)**_

A stream of golden light beamed from the heavens, the holographically projected clouds parting ways for the intensifying sun.

A ray of solar radiance smacked the field, the tiles underfoot vibrating all the while.

Pristine white steel armor clung tightly to some beast, the head much too broad to be human. A holy aura emitted from the crusader as it swung its polearm feeling itself.

**Wulf, Lightsworn Beast** _**(ATK: 2100 DEF: 300) special summoned**_ itself from the graveyard after dropping in the grave.

"Entering Battle Phase." The speakers chirped.

He fingered his duel disk across from me, a Card Trooper trekking towards my only buffer between his monsters and my life points.

**Destiny HERO - Diamond Dude** was no match for the amped-up **Card Trooper**. He burst into fragments while a chunk of my life points vanished.

"Oh boy," I said, anticipating most of my life points to vanish.

(-500LP **| Kisuke: 6700 - Akashi: 6800**)

Akashi pointed towards me signaling his next attack, another **Card Trooper **_**(ATK: 1900 DEF: 400)**_ launching forward to land a direct blow.

"Yes. Yes! YES!"

As the hit came, a jolt of azure lightning struck his oncoming machine as well as all his Machine-type monsters. A crackling static popped, the voltage inside the mechs climbing to frightening new heights.

_He got a little more comfortable, didn't he? Can't be having that now._

An aquamarine aura shone off all the machine's bodies, their attack values doubling under the effect of his **Limiter Removal** card.

(-3800LP **| Kisuke: 2900 - Akashi: 6800**)

As the attack ended, the onslaught continued. The last Card Trooper swooping in and finishing off the rest of my life points.

(-3800LP **| Kisuke: 0 - Akashi: 6800**)

"**Winner: Contestant 53: Yasushi Akashi - **_**(1-0-0) Best of three Match.**_**"**

_Unlucky game. Unlucky game. I'mma need more of a grindy defensive style. I'll just force him to go first, then blow him out of the water when he sides wrong for me. MUHAHAHA._

"Okay. I'm letting you go first, big guy."

Akashi tripped over his foot and plopped to the ground before making his way back to his station.

His lips twisted into a frown.

"Damnit! DAMNIT! Lost the dice roll game one and now I bet I'm screwed with siding this time, aren't I? How much you wanna bet?" He moaned.

His demeanor did a 180-degree flip. I guess this is one of those weak mentaled competitors. I wonder if I can tilt him into oblivion and get him to self-destruct.

"That's tough. It always feels terrible to play from behind. My favorite part of the game is playing from ahead."

"I know." He said, throwing his hands out in emphasis.**"ME TOO!"**

"**Match - Game 2 of 3 - 8000 Life Points. Duelist's ready?"**

As I drew my starting hand, I peeled my lips apart in elation before my gaze settled on my opponent, shivering while reclaiming my clarity.

"Urghhhh. This hand is next level dukey. So Rough!" He pressed his lips together before blowing out and producing obnoxious fart sounds.

"RNG is pretty toxic," I added with a mist of sympathy.

"Yeah, suuuuuuuure!" He spat out caked in sarcasm. "We both know _YOUR_ hand is SOOOOO GARBAGE… Oh yeah, real hard to figure out who has the advantage here."

What is going on with this kid? Wasn't he anti-social? It sounds like he melts down pretty easy, to be honest. Maybe that's why he keeps to himself.

"Just go next. Save the mental stress of an exhausting game that you'll probably just lose and run it to the next one."

"Hmm…" he hummed, grabbing hold of his chin. "You're making a lot of sense over here man. Like A-LOT A-LOT."

"I've been in your situation many times. What Yu-gi-oh player hasn't?"

_Oop… Yu-gi-Oh? Duel Monsters, you idiot_.

"...And Duel Monsters isn't even this guy's main game, wonderful. Can get here casually while I'm out here bustin' ass every day. Urggg, I concede this game. Never lucky!"

"**Winner: Contestant 126: Kisuke Tashiro - **_**(1-1-0) Best of three Match.**_**"**

I've noticed that through my time with competitive games and sports I often found the higher caliber players are WAYYY more likely to be oddballs, especially some of the best and most gifted. Some are mentally unstable, getting tripped up when things start to crash and burn.

I smiled adding my hand that was beyond JUNK back to my deck and shuffled.

He bought every bit of my method acting like a normie.

_No challenge._

"**Match - Game 3 of 3 - 8000 Life Points. Duelist's ready?"**

"Alright… Y-you go first."

"Awesome! I was hoping you'd say that!"

"SON OF A BITCH!"

* * *

┬┴┬┴┤寸法の橋渡し├┬┴┬┴

"**Winner: Contestant 126: Kisuke Tashiro - **_**(2-1-0) Match Won.**_**"**

"And THAT'S the way the NEWS GOES," I shouted.

"Never Lucky!"

Exiting out of my arena, I meandered towards the stairwell that could bring me down to the food court as I worked myself up an appetite.

"Excuse me." a tug from behind on my shirt caused me to spin around catching a new figure in my vision.

A slim woman with a fine crimson dress wrapping around her slender frame accentuating her curves stood before me. She was taller than me by half a head thanks to the high heels she wore. Her hair the same color as an acrylic firetruck eloquently spun into a neat bun. Her mouth dimpled on both sides adding focus to a string of freckles. Her lipstick had me admiring her over one last time before she grinned, flaunting her body by smoothing over her dress seductively.

"Hello, Niko Suzuki - ESPN journalist. Your play has been catching people's attention, and I'd love to have you for a live interview if you don't mind."

"An - An interview?" I asked, choking on my words.

"Oh, yes. You're trending right now." She said. The woman whipped out her phone from her cleavage without a hint of shame. "A new dark horse whose KC rating is the lowest by far of anyone in attendance conquering established duelists. If I were you, I'd ride this wave while you can."

She poked at her screen slumping over propped against the wall, her head drooped down.

My mind flashed to Levar Ball from my previous reality. His antics he pulled to seize the attention of everyone around him to serve him - they were brilliant. No one believed his outrageous claims like he could 1v1 prime Micheal Jordan, but it didn't matter.

_"There's no such thing as bad publicity"_ is a quote I only half agree with. If I were to doctor this phrase, I'd change it to: _"All publicity brings opportunities."_

"Yeah. I'd be happy to do an interview with you."

"Great… Great." She said, still staring at the screen of her phone while her fingers danced about. _Click, click, clack, click, clack._

I shifted my weight impatiently onto my heels staring up into the ceiling. A black and yellow carpeted design patterned within.

"What are your handles, kid?"

"I'm sorry, Handles?"

Her face jerked up from her phone, her eyes lasering in on me ripe with confusion.

"Social media's? Snap chat, Instagram, or whatever you use most frequently. Give me your preferred two."

"...Why?"

"What, are you slow? Influencers that have more followers and coverage receive better treatment by Advertisement brokers. It's all about the _Moolah_." She said.

"So… what? You're going to put my handles on screen for the interview... or shout me out on your social media pages? Something like that?"

"Both actually, yes. This stuff is a pretty standard procedure. Guess this really is your first interview, huh?"

"Yeah. Sorry, my bad."

My hand retrieved my phone from my pocket, the metallic heft snug in my palm. Like a wizard, I breezed through my passcode unlocking it.

Swiping into different apps from the navigation screen, I settled on two.

"Can I type them in for you?"

She gave me a worse stink eye than before, her gaze drilling through me.

"You can look, but no touching." She waved a finger in the air to me emphasizing those words.

"Ah, just like a stripper!"

A brief spell of silence fell over us, the air chilling several degrees in these seconds.

"Hahaha!" She burst out before cutting out in a whisper with "... like a stripper." She shook her head with a big grin flashing me her pearly whites.

The world around me warming back up, the perceived bullet passing harmlessly beside me.

_Not even close, baby!_

I opened up a new Note on my phone, typing my information in and then tilting the screen in front of Miss Suziki's face.

"Here."

* * *

┬┴┬┴┤寸法の橋渡し├┬┴┬┴

"I'm speaking with a rising contender in the scene that are both leaving his opposition and fans alike star struck. Kisuke Tashiro, an unlikely dark horse climbing his way through our national bracket thus far undefeated."

I spasmed in my seat not prepared for their outlandish embellishment.

_I took losses, I just won every match so far… I didn't expect her to be so helpful in playing my part._

"The competition so far has been far inferior. Nothing to write home about yet at least. Maybe the semi-finals or finals will leave me feeling engaged…"

I tried to hold my mask of boredom on, I really did, but for some reason, I kept slipping into a grin the more I found myself imagining how people would react to this, especially if I failed and dropped out early after this one.

"To me, it looked like some games were pretty close calls. Are you saying that was nothing but showmanship? That your victories were already secure in advance?"

_Bitch! Now you're trying to trip me up for the audience's entertainment. Okay… Okay. Let's get the audience out of their seats before this is over._

"Ha! You noticed, did you? That's great, you've got a sharp eye." I said winking to the newscaster. Her mouth fell open comically before she recomposed herself. "Yeah. Duels are more for the fans than the competitors if you think about it. That's why You'll find me drawing matches close to beat them at the finish line. Mark my words, one day I'll be the greatest of all time, and it's because I combined strategy with spectacle."

"Interesting coming from a duelist playing a burn deck." She quipped. "Anyways. First up on the agenda, we want to ask you: _What do you think has been instrumental in your successful run here so far at the Japan Industrial Cup_?"

"Well... first off people didn't come prepared for me at all. Their underestimation helped a wee bit…" I said before pinching my thumb and pointer finger closer together. "But the main thing is VERY simple. **The Ban List**. The balance team over at Kaiba Corporation responsible for updating the ban list are asleep. _Nananana_, I take it back. They are COMATOSE. When we have so many options _today_ that can banish cards, a card like _**Dimension Fusion**_ can't be legal. I could sit here all day and explain all the things that make it busted, but I have a feeling, if you have an informed opinion, I'd just be preaching to the choir anyways. I made this deck specifically to abuse Dimension Fusion to its absolute limit. After this nationals, let's see if I can get this card banned... Then nobody can play that toxic shit against me."

"Are you worried people will disregard your achievements due to your heavy abuse of a card scrutinized for being overpowered?"

"No. I never worry."

"Oh, wow! Calm and Collected just like a champion already. We might just have a new king of games in the making here Folks! One thing is for sure, Japan has its eyes on you, Kisuke! Good luck out there."

The attractive female before me excessively smiled, holding it for the camera until a deep BEEP rung out, someone from behind the greenscreen shouting "-And we're out. We got about 140 seconds until we're back live."

"Yao! Don't think I didn't see you zoom onto my mole, you asshole!" Niko cried, her face quickly falling back to her stock indifference. "Next time I catch that, Laxatives are going in your coffee. I'm not even playing."

"You wouldn't!" a voice piped up from behind the green screen.

"Not only that, I'll superglue your ass to the toilet too if you aren't careful. Don't fuck with me Yao."

She swiped through screens on their huge tablet-like phone humming away in her own little world for a couple moments before realizing I was still before her.

"Hm?" Her eyes widened in expectation staring at me. She ushered her hand to the door as if telling me to leave. **"NEXT!"**

_Well, Fuck you too! What empty human interaction. But… I waaaaaas able to use her to my advantage. I guess it's whatever._

I stepped out of the room, Viktor's eyes and mine met as we crossed paths.

A chill air crawled up and down my spine. The shiver than ran through me left me imagining it was the frozen touch of an Eskimo masseuse emerging from the arctic tundra.

Time slowed to partial speed, the heat of our gazes reforging our wills as duelists to compete. I could feel his unquenchable desire for victory. His greed seeping out like a poisonous smog filling the air.

I swallowed. The air felt thick in my lungs. My sense's telling me to avoid the conflict altogether, my stomach churning.

Soon I'd get the opportunity to best that elitist cunt. Don't get soft. Soon.

A whisper of sensibility coming from my conscious asked:_ Is your obsession to beat him because, he in a way... is exactly like you? _

A shiver shook me like a leaf at my blatant hypocrisy. I didn't have anything resembling a functional excuse to rationalize away the truth of that question.

I paced around back and forth on an overpass running overtop a minigolf course that was closed off with most of its props likely in storage.

I struggled to mine an answer to my question, but it wasn't coming as easy as the original question itself: _'What did I want?'_

_It's complicated…_

_**BEEP.**_

My mood soured a bit by the circumstances of everything, I slinked into a seat in a corner pulling out my phone, the vibrant screen bursting with lush color and intense brightness.

_What the? This new Custom Firmware after jailbreaking my device lets me go past max brightness level too? Not as useful as things like Emulators or App piracy... Definitely not the hero for my device's battery life._

I found myself mindlessly pulling up the ESPN live stream, Viktor's interview just starting after however long the set delay is programmed.

_This world is full of new experiences. Now's not the time to be inflexible._

_**BEEP!**_

"You've managed to attend at least one national tournament each year for four consecutive years. Why do you think that is?" My phone blasted as I lowered the volume by a little before that annoying bar disappeared off the screen.

"I swear most of the people out here don't even bother turning their brain on. They're stuck in hard autopilot like legit bots."

Viktor took a moment, "Secret? There's no secret. My brain works. Hate to say it, but genetics plays a HUGE part. How can you bridge talent with hard work if the talent also works hard? That's why I always say that if your not serious about the game, don't even hop into ranked. You end up polluting games that other people care about. That, in my book at least, is the worst sin a duelist can commit! On top of that our region has started following in the Northern America mentality.

"Everyone is too sensitive and butthurt. Duelists aren't taking responsibility for their mistakes. They'd rather blame anything than themselves. So to answer your question, I can keep making it to nationals time and time again... because I have a brain AND I care."

He folded his hands in his lap, pushing his thumbs together before continuing with: "Fascinating insight into the mentality of another of our rising stars! This year especially, we've seen a surge in your consistency. It looks like out of your last 65 ranked matches; you've only lost 7, is that correct?"

"Uhh? I mean, that sounds right, I don't know. I haven't been keeping track."

"Our analysis team has found that you have over an 89% win rate with only 2 of your losses sustained to a lower rated duelist."

"Scrubs can get lucky once or twice. The only thing that matters is consistency, and that's what I focus on."

"As you saw, we had Kisuke Tashiro in here earlier, your next opponent. He said... here, let me quote this: '_The competition so far has been far inferior. Nothing to write home about yet at least. Maybe the semi-finals or finals will leave me feeling engaged…' _It seems like he doesn't even see you as an obstacle._"_

"He must be terrified. Every game and every match I've ever played against that retard has been… huh? … What do you mean I can't say _retard_? Well, Can I say braindead? _Okay, okay,_ Like I was saying… Every match I've played versus that _braindead_ **RETARD**," he shouted the last word looking off frame to the left before turning his head back with a shit-eating grin continuing with: "**I'VE WON**! Every game, every match. Everything. Don't think I'll be a challenge? He's lying to himself or he's delusional. If you ask me, it's probably both, but hey, that's just my opinion."

"Alright. Fantastic stuff. Viktor, thanks for taking time out of your busy life for the interview. Good luck in your next match."

"I won't need luck, he's a total scrub. You can pencil me in as a win already!"

"Wow. Well you heard it first here folks, Viktor Hitoshima is confident in victory against his next opponent. Will he psych himself out, striking out again like in last year's performance... or will he dig deep, channeling his self proclaimed _'superior'_ genetics, and take home the industrial cup? Stayed tuned for all of our interviews, news, and game breakdown by our experts here at ESPN dot jp - Forwardslash - Duel."

_**BEEP.**_

"_Snapchat- new friend request."_

"_ViewTube- new subscriber."_

"_Snapchat- new friend request."_

"_Snapchat- new friend request."_

They kept on coming, _**Beep, Boop, Beep**_.

All the notifications from my phone had me burning under the heat of my pride.

"Huh... 6 friends to 600 in a few minutes. Pretty good! … I might have to turn off notifications though…"

_**Beep, Beep, Boop**_. _**Beep, Beep, Beep.**_

"Yeah, definitely," I said nodding.

* * *

┬┴┬┴┤寸法の橋渡し├┬┴┬┴

Steel beams held massive thick clear slabs of glass, heavy-duty window-like tiles ran the entire wall's length. Some of the tiled pieces were propped open allowing outside breeze to rejuvenate the tycoon seated at the helm of a table in a seat more throne than chair.

A velvety red carpet trapped beneath the weight of the monstrous table was now home to the naked feet of several high ranking Industrial Illusion corporate dogs at the whim of the silver-haired man.

These people were used to the quirks of the thinktank genius, such as the newest mandatory condition for business meetings, no shoes or socks.

"Okay breathe in… and out…" The silver-haired gentleman commanded. "Perfect. Okay. Keep bringing me the data from these matches. Our goal is to find reasonable homes for these new cards."

Maximillion Pegasus removed himself from the pro circuit in baby steps for some time, but it was only last year when he gained his true freedom.

_Kiaba boy can have his fun, skittering this way and that trying to 'balance' these cards. We've drawn our lines. I create, he sets restrictions on advanced play. That's just less responsibility for me!_

"Hahahahaha. Sorry, We need to sift through the applicants for their affinities, especially those that top these Events. Take special care with contests in Japan, South Korea, China, India, and Italy. For whatever reason, talent has been consistently bred there. Talent is useful don't you agree?"

"How are we developing most of these new cards now? It used to be less chaotic. Now everything is a mess. Is there any way to look into refining our process?"

Pegasus struck his hand on the table, a high-frequency hum buzzing off the glass top sitting on steel framing. "No. Our method for the development of new card design is handled ENTIRELY by my personal Development Department."

His eyes shut, his head shifting back leaning into the headrest. His hand holding a wine glass filled halfway sloshed the liquid around churning it in the cup before raising it to his lips and indulging in a couple sips.

A firework burst. Purple sparks sparkled before a _**BOOOOM**_ that echoed through the man's heart saw the purple sparks reignite. Red and blue fire swept over the sky, the light streaming in wavy lines across the landscape of his imagination.

The wise elegant manchild hummed in bliss, an orchestra of the melody given life by the artisan's mental bandwidth and creativity.

"Sir, I suggest you reconsider. I had my Stat Geek run simulations of some of these releases you have planned. It's way too many cards for our timetable. You're going to flood the market and poison our figurative fishing ground."

Forcefully excavated from his internal fantasy, His steady slim fingers constricted tighter around the stem of his glass back in reality with the rest of the room.

"You don't understand. This has never been about _just the money_. Can't you see? Finally, I'm not responsible for the metagame. I can solely focus on pumping out as many cards as possible. The more we release, the more we will inevitably discover. It's following an exponential growth pattern. So no. Releases from now on will only continue to grow larger rather than your half-baked insinuation that the volume of cards we're releasing is too much. I argue that there can never be too much diversity, as it gives us as a duelist an ultimate choice. In ultimate choice, ultimate freedom is found, don't you see?"

"Sir? What are you talking about? Fan submissions? We rarely if ever use Fan-submissions. Where else could all these cards be coming from? You have four development team members, that sounds unsustainable. I don't understand what you're talking about in the slightest."

_These reminders of how incompetent these imbeciles are quite hilarious. Some people are born lucky, but some are lucky to be born. This one is one of the latter._

"You lack the versatility and imagination to be an asset in my development team, besides they are PLENTY capable of handling their end, so breathe easy Gordan boy... I'd recommend you stay focused on what you've been assigned." The cheerful tune twisting at the end into a threat.

"Y-Yes president. My mistake."

The man in opposition fell in line, his beef slain by the masterful impromptu schemes of the president of Industrial Illusions and creator of Duelmonsters.

_Duel Monsters were always based on historical art and text of our ancient ancestors. But more so, they are based on the occult happenings of ancient people stumbling upon and refining the craft. Most cards are not spawned into reality at a whim but adapted from source material to be usable in the 'card game.' The Egyptians always rose a boyish curiosity in me, the same kind that a good cartoon would._

* * *

┬┴┬┴┤寸法の橋渡し├┬┴┬┴

_I can't believe I ever considered going to the normie food court. The convention center had an ongoing top-class kitchen, and contestants eat absolutely free on contest days._

A sizable bowl with angel hair pasta noodles tossed in a fragrant garlic alfredo left my mouth watering.

The 40 _something_-year-old waiter wore a clean black suit, his back ramrod straight, his eyes holding contact intensely. Elegance and precision emanated from his gentlemanly persona.

"That's plenty, Thank you."

The service staff stopped cranking the grinder. Fresh parmesan cheese pooled on top of the steaming pasta.

With a bow, A long handkerchief hung over his arm fluttered as he spun wandering away to attend to other guests.

_Duelists are treated wonderfully… Well, one's with talent are at least._

Stirring the white creamy noodle bowl, A new visitor arrived sitting at the formerly last vacant table.

The guy was a giant.

_Had to be closer to 7 feet tall than 6 feet! _

His head was bald or shaved. I'd guess shaven because of his lack of facial hair, excluding his eyebrows and lashes. It was an odd prospect seeing just how monstrous the lad to think he might NOT be shaving. I was surprised the chair even supported his fat ass. He had to be heading up on 300 pounds, no doubt.

A flash in my mind brought me back to earlier in the day when this contendent dumpstered on one of Viktor's goons.

_Gladiator Beasts, huh?_

Balancing my bowl, my glass, and my bag, I traversed over leaving my table free while swooping down into a free chair at Fat-ass's table.

The chair scraped the concrete patio startling the duelist who appeared preoccupied.

"It seems there are many things we could have in common." I said, sitting down.

"Erp? ~ My bad" he half-burped. "Things in common?"

"We both seem to enjoy bodying _**AAA clan**_ goonies and carbohydrate-dense foods for two."

Looking over, I noticed from his bag, he had retrieved a bottle of _'Sweet Baby Rays BBQ'_ sauce paired with a red vial. I assumed the vial was hot sauce but couldn't be sure because there was no identifying label.

"My name is Kisuke Tashiro. I figured I'd come to introduce myself, I hope you don't mind." I said.

He glanced down, rubbing over his pudgy stomach, it jiggling but surprisingly sturdy.

"You look like you do a lot of eating." He grinned, his bald head sparkling in the sunlight.

"Heh. You look famished!" I sang, figuring we'd go along the teen route of poking fun at things that might be our insecurities.

He sighed, squirting a massive amount of BBQ sauce in with his rice before adding a bit of red liquid from the vial and turning his attention to mixing his bowl.

"Haha. One of my old buddies used to do that same thing. He called it 'Heart Destroyer.'"

The Giant uncoiled, rolling out of the inadequate chair onto his feet and sprung forward.

My sneaker hooked on the chair. Unable to escape from the titan's humongous palm flying toward me, it clapped onto my shoulder. A colossal force glued my ass to my seat.

"I created the name for this dish… Heart Destroyer. Something tells me, anyone I might have told can't have talked to you…You can't manipulate me with my memories. These people are all fake, aren't they?" His voice dropped several octaves before finishing with: "Send me back, or you'll regret it."

"Steve?! Stevie boy?" I cried in disbelief. My mouth hung open in anticipation for a moment.

"Erm? Mozz?" The fatass fumbled.

"It's Bertram, you asshole! Holy, it's really you ain't it!?" I asked, a massive smile tenderizing my face muscles.

" _**Dun, daaananana, dun dun dun doneeee done! **_ _**"**_ Steve started to pick up a tune.

" _**~and Isn't it Ironic, Don't you think? **_ _**" **_We both jumped into spontaneous song while pointing to each other _**"**_ _**~It's Likeeee RAAAAAAIIIIINNNNNN… on your wedding day. It's the FREEEEEE RIDEEEEE when you've already paid. **_ _**"**_

Our friendly pageantry attracted the attention of many of the tables of consumers around us in our high spirits.

" _**~It's the goooooood advice… that we just didn't take! Who would have thought, IT FIGURES! **_ _**"**_

"Hahahahaha," We indulged in some laughter. **"** **It's like 10,000 spoons when all you need is a knifeeeee! ** **"**

"Can you imagine having 10,000 spoons but only needing a knife?" I asked in sincerity.

"I know! _**Isn't it Ironic? **_ Hahaha."

"Dude, we have to add each other. Right now!" I said my phone already in hand.

We exchanged contact details and followed each other's social media accounts for good measure.

"Man. They placed you in a tub of lard lookin' motherfucker, huh? Oh, And your Bald... _unlucky bro_."

"What are you a street rat? You look like you took over an anorexic person. Makes me think God has a little bit of humor."

"You still believe in God after all this?"

"I mean… Of course I still believe in God… I'm just wondering what his plan is these days, Ya know? I was just getting the hang of being a father and now POOF, I'm some adopted head disciple of the Beast style monastery. My dad is a retired Sumo pro and runs the monastery. I just think about not being there for my kid, and it just hurts. If we'd have gone to _TACO BELL_ or you hadn't gone full _special_ detective Bertram chasing down obviously shady characters... maybe I could still be there for my son."

"... Ouch. Okay, point taken man…"

"But hey, let's not get caught up on the fine details. We found each other, what luck. I wonder if that means Jackson and Mozzie are here too. What do you think?" Steve asked.

"I think they are. I was the only one awake at the end before they injected us into a new dimension, right?"

"No idea what you're talking about bud. My last memory before waking up in this guy was right after steppin' through that mirror. So I told you what I'd been up to, Duelmonsters and Beast Style Sumo practice. Shit is rough, no joke. Gives me a whole new respect for sumo wrestlers honestly."

"Oh. Well, That's cool and all, but before we got sent here, I was awake and even got to ask some questions to those alien things. The stuff they told me was insane! They were like…" I prattled on.

We took turns filling information gaps between our knowledge before we'd be forced back to the arena.

* * *

┬┴┬┴┤寸法の橋渡し├┬┴┬┴

_**A/N:**__ Hard to get back into the swing of writing, but here we are with another chapter. We open up some cans of worms here. Yes, the original Kisuke had Aspergers that affected his ability to remain focused in duels. For the time being, I'll leave you all wondering if he still suffers any side-effects from Aspergers or if it disappeared entirely now that he's been supplanted. I think my favorite parts to write for this chapter were the troll responses I snuck in for the reporter Niko and Viktor. Kisuke and Steve reunite after questioning if they would ever see themselves again. I asked 1 thing in the last chapter, and that was feedback on how well I was doing commentating the duels. One person left feedback on the subject, and I'm super thankful for that. I'm literally going to judge based on their opinion, at least until anyone else speaks up._

_Next chapter, we'll be getting to the highly anticipated Kisuke and Viktor duels. I can't wait to finish it up. Let me know what you thought worked and didn't for this chapter so the future chapters can turn out even better! PEACE!_


	7. Chapter 7

**Yu-Gi-Oh: Bridging The Dimensions**

**Article 7 - Chapter 7 - Reversal of Fate**

* * *

_**Warnings: I do not own Yu-Gi-Oh, its intellectual property is owned by none other than Konami and Kazuki Takahashi. If I owned Yu-Gi-Oh - it wouldn't be as riddled with incompetent duelists, ruling errors, and ass-pull bullshit as it was. So there.**_

**-Also, still accepting Beta readers! Hit me up with a PM-**

**-14k Word Chapter, Enjoy!-**

* * *

┬┴┬┴┤_神の起源├┬┴┬┴_

_**(Last Chapter: Excerpt)**_

"No idea what you're talking about bud. My last memory before waking up in this guy was right after steppin' through that mirror. So I told you what I'd been up to, Duelmonsters and Beast Style Sumo practice. Shit is rough, no joke. Gives me a whole new respect for sumo wrestlers honestly."

"Oh. Well, That's cool and all, but before we got sent here, I was awake and even got to ask some questions to those alien things. The stuff they told me was insane! They were like…" I prattled on.

We took turns filling information gaps between our knowledge before we'd be forced back to the arena.

* * *

┬┴┬┴┤ Chapter 7 ├┬┴┬┴

┬┴┬┴┤寸法の橋渡し├┬┴┬┴

Steve and I clowned around wandering and reminiscing before we found ourselves back inside the venue scouting the active participants.

Duelists were beginning to dwindle. People who were triple eliminated no longer had any matches and received their standing in the tournament. Most people stayed to spectate these duels with the clearance level to enter the participant lobby and use their amenities even after being eliminated. I found myself in awe and appreciation for the passion we all jointly shared. A love of the contest. A love of the game.

A notification alerted me of a new text - from **MOM**.

"_What happened? Did Aketo hit you after…"_ the message said from the lock screen, unable to display it in its entirety.

I tapped the banner with a thumb, before tapping on the _"Custom Response"_ button.

"_I'm fine. Don't worry. I'll get back to you later." _I typed.

"-Oh yeah? Sounds pretty ritzy. Upper-middle-class like Jackson's family? Not bad." The giant said.

"Eh… It's pretty close, but Jackson's family was probably richer, at least right before we got here. Still pretty good though I guess."

A gust of magnetized wind surged past with a whistle nipping at us. It occurred to me how oddly fast I normalized to all this. These spawned air currents were becoming an everyday fact of life, a background event. It didn't even interrupt my sentence or even speech cadence.

"Yeah. So, Is your mom sexy?"

Steve's hands came together into a firm clasp, his fingers wriggling around waiting for my response.

"Sexier than you ya chrome-domed ape," I said with a smile.

"Okay ~ _mhmmm_, I'm listening. You could say… You have my attention," His grin widened.

"_Nanananana_. _**My mom**_ you've never seen has the attention of your schlong. There's a distinction in there somewhere bud." Fabric obstructed me, and with reactive haste, I slid it out and away from my face."Who puts a flag here right where everyone's going to walk. _Idiots_."

"You don't think _Stevie_ could work his magic?" He asked, referring to himself in the 3rd person.

A round of applause rose in the background. Someone's duel must have attracted quite the crowd.

"_They seem to think so,"_ Steve added before I got word edgewise.

"I… have no idea. I don't want to think about it, and I want to find out even less." A picture whizzed into my brain, the image of the broad-shouldered man who was a similar height to Steve nowadays. "Stay away from my mom, you freak."

"_**Super freak**_, get it right ." He lightly chuckled under his breath "You know who else was a _**'super freak'**_?"

"**-Rick James,"**We chimed in unison.

_Yup… Same old Stevie._

Pointing off to the side where a mosh of people gathered, we changed directions seamlessly without the need for verbal communication, only a slight nod of the head and we were on the same page.

"... So… She's got at least C-cups right? D's are more my speed, but you know." Steve asked.

_Okay, maybe we're not on the same page._

Pulling up my shirt and exposing my pathetic chest and belly I relayed while I did a _360_: "I'm a twig, **look at me!** How huge do you think this guy's mother's chest is?"

"Like I said, I'm just hoping for at least C-cups here. I don't think that's a lot to ask for."

I reached out, flicking one of his man boobs with my fingertip. "You got some C-cups right here. Did you forget?"

A ghastly hostility touched the air infecting it like a plague. The foul negativity tinted over the surroundings like a photo filter. Steve radiated a vigorous-intensity bordering on murderous intent, chilling me to my core.

"... If you ever do that shit in public again, I'll put you in a headlock."

Caught off guard, I took a second to process the threat before a dastard grin replaced my confusion.

"Woah, if my mom sees you do that, your chances are over!"

"Don't... But… I... " He kept starting and stopping, finally letting out a large sigh, his eyes' closing. "Dear Lord, please protect me from simping for the pussy."

_Too easy. You're like a movie, I don't even have to take the time to read you._

"Thy shall not _**Covet**_', Stevie-boy," I said, wagging my finger in genuine cheer. "No,no,no. Not today."

"Don't give me the Mutombo wag! You're forgetting that _'Grandchildren are the crown of the aged, and the glory of children is their fathers.'_"

Steve retrieved his phone and fell a step out of rhythm now trailing behind by a stride.

A kid shot between us and past in a rush, his steps squeaking on the tiles as he dove into the crowd.

"_**Skert-Skert." **_Steve vocalized. "Man, He's getting it! -Just like your mom's about to."

Ready to put this topic to rest, I took a deep breath. "Steve, No matter what happens… I just want you to know that I'll... _**NEVER**_ call your bitch ass _'daddy'_."

Steve's carefree smile vanished, his face scrunched into confliction and self-reflection. His shoulders sank lower with each exhale. He became dead silent as we moved.

The tension in the air made me regret my words, but they couldn't be taken back now.

_I know he can be sensitive sometimes. It's hard to toe the line and not cross it at some point though._

"I can never see my son again… I won't see him sprout into a person... or teach him how to ride a bike... I can't impress him with my sick handles to get him fascinated with basketball. I can't inspire him to be everything he could be. He's going to think his dad was just another fuck up that went out for milk and never came back. After growing up without a dad, I told myself I'd be there for my kids, I told myself that I would be different. That I'd be that positive factor I was missing. I wanted to leave some good in the world, you feel me?"

My airways constricted shut. Instinct dumped cortisol into my system, throwing it into chemical-induced chaos. The alarming compulsion for oxygen despite the inability to draw breath ...was because I knew _I DESERVED IT_.

_I dragged my friends into my bullshit… __**AGAIN!**__ I never learn my lessons, do I? Maybe I'm actually insane._

"I know I already told you, but I'm _**really **_sorry man. I feel like shit, and one apology doesn't feel like enough, but all the _'I'm sorry's'_ in the world can't make up for this. None of us were ready for this, and that doesn't really excuse the fact that I'm the reason you're here instead of with your kid. You know I-I love you bro." I managed to get out with the last bit of my breath before I wheezed sucking down air like a mouth breather in his natural habitat.

"What? Don't get all mushy on me you pussy. I was j-just-" He stammered wiping away at his glassy eyes. "I'm good. I'm fine."

My mood tanked, his half-hearted reassurances did nothing for me.

Realization must have taken him because his composure came flying back. "Don't look at me like that! Hey! Come on, I'm not soft. I'm as hard as they come... _**Especially**_ when it comes to your mother."

"More? This again? _**Eerrruugh**_… As far as a bright side though, we might be able to find a way to jump dimensions. Think about where we are. The Yugi-verse."

"... True, true. Okay, I'm listening."

"See, _NOW_ \- I have your attention." I chuckled.

"Well some of it, I'm still like half chub over here. I was on your Instagram scrolling through comments on your pictures and found a 'Ruri Tashiro'."

My heart froze. "Who's that?" I asked.

"Don't play dumb. I checked, she's got pictures of you on her account. Naturally, I already sent a friend request."

_She found my NEW account already?! What sorcery is this shit?_

Throwing my face into my palm, I groaned.

_**ZZzzzttt! **_A vibration rumbled from Stevie's hands as he messed with his phone.

"Oh shit! She just accepted me back. Whew, I'm about to be lookin' like Tarzan swingin' into those DM's, ya hear?"

Now he was taking this too far. I leapt up, crawling on his back, pulling myself up and reaching out to scoop his phone from him.

Unfortunately, even with these lanky arms, it wasn't enough length to reach his phone. He held his arm out extended as he kept me at bay with his other.

"Little cub is trying to hide away mama bear? Fear not, Detective Stevie is on the case."

"My dad is _Big_ dude, and he's got a sick, full, James Harden-esqe beard. What would she want with a pubescent triple chinned skinhead?" I said before giving up and sliding off his back.

"He's big, ohhh-yeaaaah? Big as me?" Steve asked as he started flexing in different positions, his blubbery biceps sagging mid-air.

"Big? Yeah, but not as round as you - fatass."

Steve burst into laughter. A joyful twinkle returning to his eyes.

"That's what I thought! Who's your daddy? Who's your daddy?" He asked, wagging his eyebrows saucily.

"I told you once, I'll tell you a million times. Never. It's not happening."

I yanked backwards, inertia nearly dragging my ass to the ground if not for my friend's firm grasp but at the cost of the shirt that stretched.

He nodded over and over, His grin creepily widening at an absolutely crawling pace, but with each and every nod, until the final exaggeration was cartoonish in nature."It's going to happen. I'm going to make it my life mission."

"Get your weird-ass out of here. You could go for literally anyone, why's it gotta be _my_ mom, that you've _**never**_ _**even met**_?"

"So my next son can be your brother, you fucker."

Arriving at the mouth of the mosh, the outskirts of the crowd, I turned to him with all the seriousness and sincerity as I could muster. Gazing up into his eyes and laying a hand on his shoulder, we shared a brief intimate connection among brothers.

"I dunno if you're just busting my balls over here or what exactly, but no matter what... I'm not helping. My old man and her seem to be working fine. I repeat: _Don't involve me_."

"It might be working, but what if old Stevie-boy worked better?"

I was dumbstruck. Never before had I felt this urge to protect. In my previous life, I hadn't contemplated it much. Everything ranging from a half-hearted joke to full out slander of my mother was quietly swept under the rug without a second thought.

_So why am I getting offended now?_

The picture of the blonde, emerald-eyed woman blinked into my mind.

_Why? ….. Because? … I owe her? No, I owe both of Kisuke's parents. That must be it. Sweet logic. See, I can make sense of this. It just requires a wee bit of brainpower._

"This is past creepy now, are you really trying to fuck my _\- err -_ my host bodies mom?"

"This kinda started out as a joke, but your mom is actually a FINE DIME," Steve said, holding his phone out so I could make out a picture of the familiar woman. "I mean, look at her! Sure, her tit's are a little underwhelming, okay, that's whatever. But DAMN! That physique though, she's a bombshell! How old is she?"

"Dude, I don't know! You're kind of pissing me off, like Low-key."

"If we're anywhere near the low-key Im'a swat your shit so hard your future children will have confidence issues. Hmm… Wait a second... Your children would be my grandchildren. Don't even sweat it, I'll fix 'em right up, plus, just think of all the piggybacks grampa Steve could provide. _**-Oh!**_ -and everyone could call me the '_**Breadwinner**_'_._"

"_**YOU THINK**_\- No, no, _**Nanananah!**_ I'm not going to get sucked into your bullshit. _**Anything else!**_ Can we talk about _**ANYTHING**_ else?! Please!"

Steve stalled for a moment, then impatiently slid a figure out from in front of him to the side so he could continue on. The average looking ginger female's jaw dropped realizing Steve's actions without a hint of remorse, walking past her.

"-Well, then you're a pretty shitty son then, aren't you? Don't care about your mother's happiness at all?" He continued, pretending like that never happened.

"Steve, I'm not kidding. Does it look like I'm kidding?" I stood there while he soaked in my unamused mug. I let him bask in it in all my glory. "So...Anything else?"

The crowd in front of us blocked the view of the apparent featured duel.

"Ain't any of you heard of Ludacris? -_**Get out the way!**_" Steve shouted. His face grew just a shade redder as nearly everyone took a moment to figure out who shouted that. "Me? ~Yeah me! I don't have all day, make room, or I'll make it for you."

The sea of people parted around him, giving him and by extension myself since I was closely tailing him a straight shot to the front of the crowd.

"Heh, okay, okay. Erm… Honestly, what were we even talking about earlier? I got sidetracked a little."

"You think?... It was… that… Oh yeah, -that we might be able to jump to other dimensions. Think about everything we know about the Yu-gi-verse. Even if this one is significantly different, it would be the height of incompetence to think shadow charms or millennium items don't exist. Plus there's got to be hubs around here. If we could find another hub, maybe we can Hijack their travel system… Steve? Hello?"

I tugged on the giant's shoulders before noticing him gaping indignantly at the featured duel.

My focus snapped to the game state.

A yellow-blonde male magician with a red headband and a royal purple academic robes fashioned into a tight, figure gripping package twirled his staff in bored indifference.

"I draw! Imagine that, Another **Palladium Oracle Mahad**, and you know what that means? He takes the field with flair and grace, just like his _**MASTER**_ \- _**ME**_ \- Ya hear that _**BOYS?**_. That's why we're perfect partners, really."

The teen girl had pristine gold-platinum locks that cascaded down to her chest. Her eyes' swallowed the entire room along with your soul as you went to process what colour they were. At first glance, the obvious deduction begins at violet. But as you are lost, captivated and held hostage by those pupils, I've come to enlightenment. Now I know they remind me more of a shimmering amethyst.

Her complexion was flawless, Her peach skin ever-so-slightly tanned, giving her a very healthy colour and glow. Imagine her measurements as _**36-25-34**_. Her body fell under what most men would argue is the ideal ratios, a perfect hourglass figure. She had plenty of butt, even from this distance I could tell how toned she was, and somehow in that small package with a narrow midsection, still remained top-heavy. It was as if her body spit on common sense itself.

"Wow, she's as hot as your mom, plays Yu-gi-erm, Duel Monsters, and has a rack. Check, check, check! Stevie likes!"

"Go harass her instead of my mother."

"Who says I can't do both?" Steve asked.

"You're already planning on two-timing my mother?"

"Urgh. Sorry, these hormones are something fierce, for real. My sex drive is like a decked out Bugatti Veyron. My engine's always revvin'. _**Vrooom vrooom**_ motherfucker."

**Palladium Oracle Mahad **_**(ATK: 2500 DEF: 2100). **_An Egyptianesque vizier clad in cream cloth and golden accessories arrived. An illuminated gold rod clenched in hand at the ready.

"_**MOTO-chan! MOTO-chan! MOTO-chan!"**_ A segment of the crowd chanted.

"Out of the two of us, if anyone's a motherfucker it's you," I said.

"Not if…what's this chick's name? - _Chl-oe Moto_?" A sharp intake of air announcing his excitement. "This is Yugi's daughter dude! Okay bud, your mom is safe… _**FOR NOW.**_"

"**Call of the Haunted**!" The girl's opponent cried out. A pink haze fogged from the ground before light flashed, making me see spots for a moment. By the time I could focus again, a creature birthed from it towered up, a white armor-scaled galactic looking dragon rising to the opponent's field.

**Lightpulsar Dragon **_**(ATK: 2500 DEF: 1500)**_

"_**Nyaa Uhh!" **_The female idol pointed at her male compatriot and winked at him. "Look again."

A coffin appeared ensnaring the Lightpulsar dragon on the guy's side while also swallowing her own **Apprentice Magician **_**(ATK: 400 DEF: 800). **_"With my **Dark Renewal**, I tribute a monster for each of us, and I bring out a Dark Spellcaster from basically wherever, I'll choose from my deck, the sexy **Magician of Dark Chaos **_**(ATK: 2800 DEF: 2600)**_

_**D.M.O.C! GOOD CARD! **_I thought.

An all-encompassing black armor-scaled, demonic-looking dragon spawned from the ashes of Lightpulsar's remains.

**Red-Eyes Darkness Metal Dragon **_**(ATK: 2800 DEF: 2400).**_

"-And that's not all _**BOYS!**_ Let me hear you scream as I drop two copies of **Solidarity **into play boosting my clique a measly _**1600**_ each."

The two spell cards hit the field, The graveyard leaked a glowing blueish-purple aura funneling through pockets in the air linking to her monsters like virtual oil pipelines enhancing their destructive power.

**Magician of Dark Chaos **_**(ATK: 4400 DEF: 2600).**_ His body grew in stature and musculature. His frame widened, giving the impression of heightened stability. The Magick that surrounded him became visible as quality became more concentrated and refined.

**Palladium Oracle Mahad **_**(ATK: 4100 DEF: 2100) **_The vizor changed in similar proportions to D.M.O.C. His rod screeched out, humming a threatful song to all within its vicinity. This right-hand man of a Pharaoh was nothing to be trifled with.

"_**MOTO-chan! MOTO-chan! MOTO-chan!"**_ Steve joined in.

_He put a dark on the field for her to get her effect… Big Oof my guy._

**Entering Battle Phase**_._

"Attack him **Mahad**!" Chloe commanded, throwing her arm behind her command so that there could be no question.

He bolted forward into a streak, his rod swung around during his charge first doing a 360, then a 720, and finally a 1080, the momentum rising all the while.

_That's my boy Tony Hawk if I've ever seen it._

A red-green cylindrical figure appeared zapping her attacking monster in a static-filled flash before his attack could connect.

A beam of black lightning immediately followed and struck the Oracle Mahad vaporizing him. The black current branched off chaining onto the Red-Eyes and disintegrating it into dust. This time as if in poetic justice of the highest tier of irony, from Mahad's ashes, rose a **Dark Magician **_**(ATK: 2500 DEF: 2100).**_ However, as it found it's bearing on the field, its stats skyrocketed to _**(ATK: 4100 DEF: 2100) **_due to double **Solidarity**_**.**_

"End his **Red-Eyes**, **Dark Magician!**" She cheered him on like a cheerleader, putting her whole body into it.

"**MIRROR FORCE!"**

"**And - TRAP STUN!" **She replied, not missing a beat.

"**NOOOOOO!" **The kid let out a blood-curdling scream.

"It's just a game. Why are you making it such a big deal?" She said, playing dumb and batting her eyes.

His Red-Eyes vanished from the field, vanquished by the good 'ol reliable Dark Magician, and with the next attack came the rest of his life points.

"Better luck next time!" She sang, posing for a barrage of camera flashes from a wall of stoked fans encircling her like a regimented army.

"_**MOTO-chan! MOTO-chan! MOTO-chan!"**_ Even I boarded the Chloe _hype-train_.

"Wow, she's good," I said, impressed.

"Funny, I'd say she's _**baaaaaaad**_. _**Ooooweee**_, I hope she's a naughty girl."

"I think you've always been mentally stuck in puberty. Like that shit never went away for you. When you walk outside, you fixin' to be like early Kobe, about to catch a charge."

"_**Step back! Please let the talent have some space to herself. She'll pose for selfies starting in 5 minutes. If you're interested, please line up in a single file starting at the red X taped over here on the floor!" **_Some management personnel relayed over a megaphone.

A wave of bodies moshed around clashing into each other, fighting tooth and limb to claim and defend their spot in line.

"-Only way I'm about to catch a charge is if the ref is against me," Steve said.

I adopted a straight face, then waved my arms around his body as if to indicate a point. "Judge Judy ain't gunna have pity on a 300-pound sex offender, no way."

"-Nope, but your mother might. _**Zing!**_ _**Fuck I'm amazing! Dammit I'm cool!" **_Steve slapped his knee cackling like a madman after unloading his opinion of comedic gold.

"Awwww, how cute. Looks like Lard Ass and Special Ed is a match made in heaven! Now you two can go suck each-other off after I beat _Wood-Tier_ over here _**AGAIN.**_"

The arrogance in the voice told me who was responsible for those last words without needing to turn around to acknowledge his presence.

"It's tragic that Viktor's own mother never loved him. These surface-level attacks are the only coping mechanisms he has to combat this scary world. I bet daddy taught you through experience, huh?"

"Shut up, Fuckin' queerbait. I bet you two play rock paper scissors to figure out who gets the _**'privilege' **_of taking it in the ass."

"Victor, You're so queer, you scared Ricky Martin straight." I spat.

"You. I don't want to hear any lip from the _'homie'_ with an extra chromie -retard."

"Classy. The originals never get old, do they?" I asked.

"And you!" Victor signaled over to Steve, "-You're so repulsive your mother tied her tubes after deciding to spare us from her hideous spawn."

"Yo mama's such a slut, Steve's even hit that," I said, fighting back a toothy grin.

"_**OH YEAH~!**_ AND Yo mama put tha' **RAT** in _**RAT**__-chet, _but I can withstand anything, _except temptation_." Steve announced wriggling his brows creepily.

"Oh yeah? All both of you got are jokes 'cuz you're both clowns."

I honestly lost interest in the conversation. Viktor just kills it for me, I don't know. I got lost just absorbing my surroundings, queuing in on Chloe flinging her hands around yelling at some suit with an ear-wig and clip-board.

She flung something at him, bouncing off his chest, shooting through her legs, and sliding on the tile directly behind her.

In one motion, she dropped her hips, bending down swooping and retrieving what looked like a pen while her cheeks were squeezed by her jeans.

Mesmerized by the booty, I overheard steve say "Dear lord, just look at that ass on her. I'ma need to see that thing swung in another circle."

"You can say that again," I said.

"Yeah - She's _alright,_ I guess. I've seen hotter." Viktor stated indifferently.

"No-one asked for your opin-" I started.

"_-Woah-woah-wait-hold_ _on their buddy_." Steve stalled me out before turning back to Viktor. "Alright? Are you blind? She has to be at least a 9.5/10 visually, and mathematically that's like a 0.01% chance to come out that hot as a girl. That's like 1 in 10,000 odds easy plus she's the daughter of the former King of Games! Her play even makes it apparent, and you just CAN'T account for that."

"Steve, you flunked math," I said.

"Hey - When it comes to bitches, my math ALWAYS ADDS UP."

"Mine too! My math always adds up when it comes to bitches." Viktor regurgitated, leaving Steve and I shooting confused glances at each other.

_His odd leap to bandwagon on Steve's train didn't seem like true agreement, more a cry for acceptance._

"Jesus I want to give that bubble butt a nice slap. I bet it'd rebound harder than prime Dwight Howard." Steve made lewd gestures showing us what he'd do to that butt given a chance.

"Only emasculated men would want someone like that. She's a total diva. All drama too - _Pshht, women_. She's got a reputation as a dominatrix or whatever. She'll fight you over every scrap of control and inevitably claim it for hers by the end of it. Yeah, perfect for beta male cucks like you losers. Too bad she's completely out of your league, but it's okay because at the end of the day you can always circle-jerk each other. Heh!"

_-Or not. Maybe Viktor is through and through just an asshole. Entirely possible._

"Somethings not right with you in the head, man. You can honestly tell me, after looking at that ass and those legs… don't even get me started on her tits."

"-Was there supposed to be a point to that incoherent ramble?"

"Huh? Oh, like I was saying." He said, wiping away a bit of drool that spilled out of his mouth with the collar of his shirt. "You can honestly look at that ass and think _'Eh, a bit of drama isn't worth it? That plump, bouncy-'"_

"-Easily," Viktor said.

"... Yeah, I don't get it. You've got to be into men. That's the only thing that could make sense to me."

"Steve… buddy… I don't want to take the wind out of your sails or anything, but… Normal people are not controlled by their libido quite like you are. You are a special creature."

"I'm a special creature?! Okay, simple question. Smash or Pass?"

My gaze flicked over to steve. "Oh, there would be no pass, only smash. Well actually, if she tries to get me to jump through a bunch of hoops beforehand, then there's a good chance I could pass. Smash and Date are different criteria though, and if anything Viktor said is true, I doubt I'd even want to talk long enough to get in her pants."

"Wow. '_Tashiro'_ actually said something insightful for once? Guess even a broken clock is right twice a day." Viktor said, slapping the back of my neck.

"I'll cya around Steve, I've really got to put this _arrogant prick_ in his place."

My neck burned, my anger rising as I thought Viktor, who was right beside me, was the cause.

"Alright, Peace." He waved as we split.

Viktor and I walked side-by-side back to our designated arena, from the corner of my eye, I saw Steve encroaching on Chloe in the background.

_Yup. Typical Stevie._

I cleared my mind of every outside distraction. All my focus would be spent on destroying the opponent before me. Annihilating Viktor on a national stage cashing in on all the drama we stirred up.

My skin tingled as I imagined what Viktor would look like in defeat.

"Wow, _Woodwood_ and _Tori_ pitted against each other? Yup, No way I could miss this one!"

The familiar voice yoinked me out of my head. The red-headed semi-pro duelist waved over to us as we entered onto our battlefield.

"Dameon?" I questioned aloud, honestly confused.

"What Sensei? You came to watch? -And you know this _retard_?"

Without a doubt, the man standing before me was the Semi-pro known far and wide as Dameon Toyz.

_Sensei? Wow… That makes all together way too much sense. Don't know how I never realized it before._

Dame flashed a pearly grin, his narrowed eyes zooming between us. "Aye, I thought this could shape up to be a good match. He's the one who beat me in that ante duel."

"**Him?!**" Viktor jumped in place, his hands reaching for the sky. "He's fucking braindead! How could _**YOU**_ lose to _**HIM **_?"

"While I admit, there was a fair amount of luck in it, but he is without a doubt skilled."

Viktors jaw dropped slack. A cloud of confusion choked him, seeming to have him question life itself.

"Oh yeah, Hear that '_Tori'_ \- Your Sensei says I'm skilled!" I mocked.

Absolutely flabbergasted, he exclaimed; **"Skilled?! Him?!"** He continued his display by pointing his grubby finger at me. **"Sensei. Take it back."**

"_**No!**_ I meant it. I can sense something special in him like I can sense something special in you." He said, before clapping his hands together like a pimp.

"Special? The only thing that makes _**Edward**_ over here _special_ is his autism!" Viktor shrieked before turning back to me. "I don't know what Houdini autistic shit you pulled to trick _Day-day_ into thinking you're anything but the scrub you are. But I promise you he's _**dead wrong,**_ and I'm gonna prove it right now. You hear me?" Victor announced.

"Tori, you're being obnoxious _again_. You know, that's just gonna give your agent heartache in the end, right?" Dameon asked.

_Hmmm….. I wonder where he learned it from._

"I-DON'T-CARE. I won't let you compare **ME** to this _half-wit_. There is **NO COMPARISON**, and I'll prove it!" Viktor shouted, wandering over to the black and white striped referee who just showed up.

The weird fucker ran up on the poor man, the ref flinched having noticed the teen pop up out of nowhere. The teen's hands snatched a microphone dangling at his waist before instantly switching it on and bringing it to his mouth.

He tapped the pop filter with his palm once, Tchh! Then twice._** Tchh!**_

"I dedicate this match to _Day-Day_. I'm going to restore your honor, Sensei. I'll show everyone who the _**APEX**_ of 'Tomaka Middle' was and still is to this day. Why I graduated _Valedictorian_ while _HE_ barely scraped by. The inescapable difference between us -_**Our genetics**__!_**"**

"**-Kay? I'm still about to take those cheeks boi!" **I yelled, slapping my hand into the other suggestively. Viktor's upper lip curled at my display. "Yeah, I bet you liked that, didn't you _**Gay-boy**_?" I teased.

Dameon spat a mist of Orange Fanta onto the back of a camera-man.

"**HAHAHAHAHAH!"**

The cameraman frowned, scooching his tripod with his foot another 4 feet to his left away from the semi-pro and sliding his feet over distancing himself.

Dameon went to muffle his mouth with his hand, but it did nothing to stop himself.** "-Pshht'Ah'hahahahahah!"**

"**Shut up Sensei!"**

Things calmed down, and in no time we were at our respective platforms, the first duel well on its way to its beginning.

"I need a handicap, you know, 'cuz you've already got one at the bare minimum, so I'll let you pick who goes first. Aren't I charitable?"

"Another excuse you'll use to explain your loss."

"-_**Aauuuughh!**_" Viktor grunted.

"**Match - Game 1 of 3 - 8000 Life Points. Duelist's ready?"**

"Fine, I'll go first!"

"_Eddy_ go first. Huge smart, Big brain. Yes."

I drew a card before inspecting my hand.

_Hmm... I could-_

"-_**Aauuuughh!**_" Viktor grunted.

"?" I looked over to Victor.

"Duuuurrrrrrr. **URRRR!**" He continued.

"Yo Ref, I don't mean to rule-shark, but is this within the rules?" I asked, hoping to get some kind of response.

The referee peered over to Viktor, He was smiling maniacally. After a few seconds, our eyes met again, and all he could muster was an apathetic shrug of his shoulders.

His expression said _**MORE**_ than enough. _"Not sure. Please don't make me check. I might have had too much alcohol."_

_What the... Our ref is going through a divorce or something. Unlucky._

"...Uhh...Okay-?"

"Huh? What was that? -_**Raaaaawww!**_" He screeched like some sort of Pterodactyl or something.

I stood there, my cards in hand, clueless of how to respond to such odd behavior.

"What the hell are you doing dude?!" I asked in genuine curiosity.

Viktor stopped in place.

"Took a while for you to ask! But it makes sense since I'm sure your _slow,_ 80 IQ self is having a rough time piecing together that something wasn't quite right. Since these duels are gonna be a breeze for me, I figured that it'd only be fair for me to offer you a side game in your _native language_. One for our honor."

"Okay...I'm listening."

"See, if you even win a game off me, I'll lick your shoe. But if you don't win any games, You'll lick Sensei's shoe. Got it?"

_Really? He's giving me __**House**__ odds? How long can you keep underestimating me?_

"The bottom?!"

"Yeah! **THE BOTTOM**. You're a fucking scrub, so get ready to get to work, huh? _Fair terms?_"

_This opportunity had to be godsent. There couldn't possibly be any better chance to humble this egotistical shit-head._

"You guys don't think this is getting a little out of hand?" Dameon tried interjecting.

"-_**NO-NO.**_ _**Fair terms.**_ I accept!" I said, a victorious grin plastered on my face.

"_**Urggghh**_ \- _Thinking__** HARD**_." Viktor held up four fingers up to his hairline. "_**Eddy**_ is smart, No, _**smart-smart!**_ \- _He_ _thinks_ _SOOOOO_ _**HARD**_. _**Hard think, BIG BRAIN!**_" He topped all that off by repeatedly nodding like an idiot. "YES."

"You belong in an Asylum. Like _locked up_. For real, for real."

"Yeah? Well, you seriously belong in the _special_ Olympics. _Awwwwww!_ _**Eddy Soooo**_ _**SPECIAL!**_"

Turns passed in a competitive heat. Cards were played, negated, re-summoned, banished, and drawn until we found ourselves near the duels resolution.

"I end my turn," I looked down to my field. 5 Monsters were summoned in defense-mode paired with two face-down back row defending my final lifepoints.

"**Standby Phase."**

...

"**Entering - Main Phase 1."**

"WOW, Eddy LOTS 'O MONSTERS! **Duuuurrrrrrr.**"

His Light and Darkness Dragon disappeared, an intimidating shadowy ruler filling in as reinforcements.** "**Say hello to your friendly neighborhood **Caius the Shadow Monarch!**" He paused before shouting "-And I BANISH YOUR **DARK GREPHER**!"

**Caius the Shadow Monarch (**_**ATK: 2400 DEF: 1000)**_

"**Come on! **Are you kidding?**"**

A black smog hovered over to me until raining down a volley of ghastly spectral projectiles on my head.

(-1000LP **| Kisuke: 0 - Viktor: 1300**)

"**Winner: Contestant 16: Viktor Hitoshima - **_**(1-0-0) Best of three Match.**_**"**

"Oww man! This is even easier than I expected. You're really taking all the fun out of this, you know that right?"

My hand clenched together dangerously tight. My fury could not be easily contained, taking all of my willpower not to snap and act like a brat just like Viktor.

"Yeah, that's right. Keep talking shit. _Karma's_ been waiting for you dude, and she's a bitch, I guarantee it. We'll see how long that smile lasts when your tongue deep in my sole, **Gay-boy**!"

Viktor hopped off his platform, absorbing the shock with his knees during landing. He looked over to the ref, grabs his foot, hops on one leg, and says "Medical time out, ref. Give me five."

He made a few hops over one-footed, before he dropped the act altogether, walking normally the rest of the way.

"You don't hold anything sacred, do you?"

"What? Rules like that are made for the chumps anyways. It's pretty sad that you can take a medical time out in a card game, just more bullshit thrown in to appease _your kind _I'm sure."

"Great, you needed to take a medical timeout so you could talk more shit? You literally never stopped last game. Seems redundant if you ask me."

"...I'm going to be merciful. Okay? Trash players, Garbage players, and even _**retards**_ from time to time get up here to the national level. I give back to society by plucking the weeds siphoning _**our**_ resources. Breaking every Trash player I see until they're irreparable. I like to think of this as a community service, and I'm a humble civil servant. So let me be clear. I'm sorry."

"You-" I pointed at Viktor. "_**-You**_ are sorry?" My voice carried traces of well-founded suspicion.

"Yeah. I honestly didn't realize... the _DEPTH_ of your autism when I made this bet, and I could _MAYBE_ see how _OTHER_ people could see it as fucked up. So, what I'm saying is... if you want to _surrender_ \- **right now**, you won't have to lick sensei's shoe." He finished, displaying the seasoned grin of an unrelenting sociopath.

I cleared my throat, and hocked a loogie onto the floor, no fucks given.

Viktor retreated a step, curling his upper lip. I looked him right in the eye, stepped on the loogie, grinding my shoe into it vigorously, my despise of Viktor hitting its absolute peak. **"EAT SHIT! EAT SHIT!"**

Viktor shrugged, turning back around whipping a hand in the air. "Have it _your_ way _**Eddy**_. -**Yo Ref, we're good. Let's go! Chop-chop.**"

I closed my eyes, took a deep breath, holding it. And held it. And kept holding it.

I gasped for breath, the oxygen refueling my system like a make-shift therapy.

_Okay, I need this next win more than anything. Come on - Come on!_

"**Match - Game 2 of 3 - 8000 Life Points. Duelist's ready?"**

"I'll go first."

"Of Course you will. Handicapables' always want _special_ treatment."

"...Just out of curiosity. What would you have said if I went second?"

"Ha! You already forgot? Let's jog your brain-dead memory then, shall we? _'Behind me your whole life? Must be rough.'_"

"Oh yeah… Wow, you've got shit talking down to a science, huh? So are all your lines just some hastily re-edited pre-records of things you've already said?"

"That's exactly what language is, you spazztic! How _clueless _are you."

_Well… I guess he's not wrong._

**"Entering Main Phase 1,"** The speakers chirped.

Looking down at my hand, I nodded. _Workable for sure._

I slapped down a **Destiny Draw**, ditched a **Destiny HERO- Diamond Dude, **and drew 2 new cards, then immediately played **Upstart Goblin,** drawing another card.

(+1000LP **| Kisuke: 8000 - Viktor: 9000**)

"-_**Aauuuughh!**_" Viktor grunted. _**"SO SMART-SMART AND SKILLED. I DRAW AND DRAW AND STILL NO WIN? BUT HUGE BRAIN! HOW COME?!"**_

"I'm going to throw rocks through your window. I hope I smack you right in your fat head when you're sleeping!"

"Then get ready to get brought up on civil and criminal charges _retard_. Life is harder than you realize**, **but hey, you might at long last be able to bring me down to your level in the process."

_I don't know if it's even possible for me to win in the trash talk compartment. Seems like Dameon and Viktor have that on lock. That's probably the only way they play. They just distract the opponent and overwhelm them than punish the mistakes made from the pressure. It's an effective playstyle, to say the least, but best used by the loud and obnoxious. The trick is to not let them play their game. I have to play MY game, Okay? Just ignore him. Ignore him!_

"-_**Aauuuughh!**_"

I activated **Trade-In** from my hand, Discarding a level 8 in hand, and then drawing another two cards.

Then I activate another **Destiny Draw**.

"We get it, we get it! You draw two. You can count to two, give yourself a pat on the back. Congratulate yourself right quick while you're at it."

I tossed Disk Commander in the graveyard.

Hmmmm… I hummed trying to make something out of this wonky hand.

_I can't fall back. I need to pressure. I need to take control of the game, AND WIN._

I made a hard choice.

"I activate **Magical Stone Excavation** by discarding two, and then return any spell from my Graveyard to my hand."

"**WOW!** You chucked **Giant Trunade** and a monster for **Destiny Draw**? _**Eddy**_ is getting desperate. _**Eddy**_ _really_ needs to win this one, doesn't he?"

"I'll remember to bring ear-plugs next time I duel you. You're literally unbearable, it's no wonder you don't have any friends."

"I have plenty of friends. Everyone in my clan stands behind me because they trust me implicitly."

"Great. You have a bunch of yes-men who will bail the second things start going bad. Seems you need a quick lesson in human nature."

I activated the **Destiny Draw**, discarding and drawing without delay.

"I play Monster Reborn, summoning Destiny HERO- Disk Commander from the grave and draw another 2 cards."

"..."

"No witty retort? No snappy insult? Your slipping Viktor."

"Wow, you're a masochistic little _**Edward**_, aren't you? You just **LOVE** the punishment."

"There we go, Every second of silence is a second I forget your even my opponent."

"**-YOU!"** Viktor huffed, his face turning red.

"Finally got you hot under the collar, huh? Can't stand the idea of fading into obscurity? You want people to remember you _**SOOO BAD**_, that's why you act out like a spoiled brat. I've already got you figured out, all that's left is to claim my dubs."

"Duuuurrrrrrr. **URRRR!**"

"You-"

"-**URRRR! URRRRRR! URRRR!**"

"Are you finished?"

"-**URRR! -**On with your turn! _**DO SOMETHING YOU SLOOOOOOW BITCH.**_**"**

"**Fine!" **I shouted. I played an **Upstart Goblin**, and draw.

(+1000LP **| Kisuke: 8000 - Viktor: 10000**)

I was damn near half-way through my deck already. I was starting to get some strong pieces together, but it wasn't quite good enough to blow him out of the water. I need to keep fishing for my combo pieces.

Tapping the Duel Disk, I initiated a tribute summon with the **Disk Commander** as material. Because the tributed monster was DARK, it counts as all the tributes for the _**Level 8:**_ **Darklord Zerato.**

**Darklord Zerato **_**(ATK: 2800 DEF: 2300).**_

-And now, since there are 5 Darks in my Graveyard, I play **The Beginning of the End, **banishing all of them and drawing my three cards.

It's actually kind of broken that here **Beginning of the End** doesn't have the same prerequisite of needing 7 or more Dark's in the grave as the cost, only the 5. It definitely makes the card _**STUPID**_ powerful in the right decks.

_I now had 6 cards in hand, and 19 cards left in my deck if my count was still right. Man, He's really been fucking with my head on this one._

The cogs of my mind spun as I analyzed the most efficient order to play my cards next.

"**Ref, He's stalling! Look at him. That's delay of game if I've ever seen it, give him a warning."**

And just like that, the ref hit me with a Yellow card for Delay of Game.

"Are you kidding?!" I yelled at the ref. **"I hope she took everything you owned because you didn't think you'd need a prenup."**

"**HA! That retard probably watches the 3-Stooges and takes notes."**

"I know, right? **This ref is so clueless he took his dog to Pet-Smart to get an IQ test.**"

"HAHAH! **That man is such a retard, he got hit by the punchline.**"

"Yeah, **Definitely retarded enough to sell his car for gas money.**"

"HAHAH - Wait, wait. I got one. **He the type of nigga to make Marc Davis look good at his job**."

"Woah- Viktor, you watch basketball?"

"Huh? Yeah, of course. Who doesn't watch basketball?"

"It's just, you never really acted like you got any of my jokes."

"Nah, I got them. Well, sometimes I don't even listen to the things my opponents say until the match is over and I replay them in my head. A Few of them were pretty good, I guess."

_That makes way too much sense..._

At this point, the ref started scratching his head before pointing to himself questionably, as if to check to see if we were talking about him.

"**Yeah - You, Retard!**" Viktor shouted. **"HAHAHAH!"**

The ref just squinted back at us in confusion. In all honesty, I'm not sure if he even knows where he is right now.

"**HAHAHAHAHAH!"** I cracked up too. "**Ahh**… Okay, where were we?"

_**BUSTED CARD TIME!**_

My arm stretched out, flicking a card onto my Duel-Disk. A blue warp-gate opened on the field. I tapped on all available cards to summon from my banished, bringing 4 new monsters to the field, all in defence mode.

(-2000LP **| Kisuke: 6000 - Viktor: 10000**)

**Destiny HERO - Diamond Dude **_**(ATK: 1400 DEF: 1600)**_

**Destiny HERO - Diamond Dude **_**(ATK: 1400 DEF: 1600)**_

**Destiny HERO - Disk Commander **_**(ATK: 300 DEF: 300)**_

**Dark Grepher **_**(ATK: 1700 DEF: 1600)**_

A finger reached over to my Duel-Disk activating both of my **Diamond Dude's** Effects.

I revealed one, and it was **Trade-In**! _YES! _

...And the second… _OH MY GOD_, **Beginning of the End**? _Are you kidding!? And I end with 5 cards in hand this turn. LUCKY-LUCKY! _

I nodded._Not a bad first turn board._

**END PHASE.**

"About time, I thought you'd be another year. My time to shine."

Viktor's arm jerked forward, the sound of a spell activation played as his card hit his Duel-Disk.

_**Soul Exchange…**_

In Milliseconds my **Darklord Zerato** dematerialized, a new monster spawning on Viktor's field using its energy.

**Raiza the Storm Monarch (**_**ATK: 2400 DEF: 1000)**_

And just like that, A **Diamond Dude** was yanked from my field, landing on top of my deck.

Viktor dropped two back row before he ended his turn. He couldn't attack because of the **Soul Exchange** he used earlier in his turn.

**END PHASE.**

"My turn!" I slid a card off my deck.

"**Main Phase 1."** My Duel-Disk relayed.

I activated both spell cards in the grave sent last turn from my **Diamond Dude**s' effects, Drawing **+5** \- _**INSANE**_.

I now had 12 cards in hand.

_There's no way I don't get the combo off this turn._

With all my options for moves, I needed to calculate the odds.

…

**"Yo, Ref. Quit snoozing and give him another yellow! Delay of game! Chop-chop."**

Immediately I flung a card onto my Duel-Disk wanting to avoid a double Yellow card, resulting in a red card.

A black and purple alien monstrosity rose on my side of the field. It held a gun with a roulette wheel.

**Snipe Hunter (**_**ATK: 1500 DEF: 600).**_

I was about to continue my turn, but out of the corner of my eye, I caught one of the most brilliant things I've ever seen.

The ref straight up gave Viktor the finger.

"Yo, I take back everything I ever said about this ref. He's on point after all. _**GOOD WORK OUT THERE BUDDY**_."

Viktor whipped his phone out before a mechanical _**Kaachhh**_ sounded out. "I was going to do it anyway, but now I'm definitely gonna get you canned you incompetent stooge."

"Yo, Ref! Delay of game, Delay of game!"

The referee cracked a crooked grin giving me a little nod before throwing up a yellow card into the air.

"YOU STUPID BITCH! IT's **HIS TURN**! HOW CAN I POSSIBLY GET A DELAY OF GAME? WHAT THE HELL? It's not even my action you braindead monkey!"

The ref turned to Viktor, and hit him with another middle finger, this time with some real pizzazz behind it.

"-_**Raaaaawwww RAAAAAAAAWW!**_" Viktor screeched. He must've imploded. His mental went _**BOOM BOOM**_.

_Oh my god. This is the best day ever._

I discarded one of the many cards in my hand to activate **Snipe Hunter**'s effect targeting Viktors leftward Backrow card.

"You sweating over there **Gay-boy**?"

His futuristic Roulette wheel spun into motion, the number generated is…

A **1**. Ohh well, better luck next time.

"Effect!" I announced, discarding another card to reuse Snipe Hunter since his effect had no once per turn clause.

**1.**

"...Are you kidding? Two bad rolls in a row? RNG is so toxic."

"Effect!" I announced, discarding another card.

**6.**

"Jesus! Anything but a 1 or a 6! I have a 66.66% chance here, how are you about to fail three times in a row?"

…

I took a deep breath.

_Don't get heated. Bad RNG happens, just remember all that Great RNG you had earlier in the duel, yeah. Focus on the positives._

I nodded agreeing with myself, before chucking away another card from my hand.

"Snipe Hunter, Give me a 3!"

**1.**

"That's not a 3… Let's try again." I said, trashing another card.

**1.**

"HAHAHAHAHAH! Holy shit. You are the biggest failure I've ever seen. You can't even win RNG games, NICE FOREHEAD! AHAHAHAHAHAHA!" Viktor was freaking out but returned to holding four fingers up to his hairline again.

I already scrapped 5 cards, but still had 7 remaining.

"You win some, you lose some. At least I've still got a lot of cards to play with." I said, fanning myself with my seven cards.

"With you, it looks more like you lose some, then lose some more."

"Yeah? Just watch this." I said, chucking yet another card in frustration and targeting that same back row card.

**6.**

"**ANYTHING BUT A FUCKING 1 OR 6 - PLEASE!"**

"FOREHEAD - FOREHEAD. HAHAHAHAHAHAHA! EHHHH, OH MY GOD, I CAN'T BREATH." Viktor was hysterical.

Anger clouded my judgment, I tossed another card in the graveyard determined to see Snipe hunter work at least once.

**1.**

Viktor literally dropped to the ground, rolling around on his platform. "Noooo, I'm dying, Fwua-HAHAHAHA. _**Eddy, Eddy**_, haven't you learned your lesson yet? You just weren't meant to beat me. Even Karma is on my side.

_No! That's impossible. There's no way!_

I discarded another card, rolling the dice one more time.

**4.**

"**FINALLY!"**

A black bolt stretched and reached Viktor's back row, but the card was chained before destruction.

**Shrink **activated, halving the attack of my snipe hunter.

**Snipe Hunter (**_**ATK: 750 DEF: 600).**_

"All that work for nothing. How's it feel?"

"I think… I think I just got cancer."

"HA! You know what? I was wrong about you, you aren't half bad. But that doesn't mean you can be mentioned in the same breath as me, so I'm still gonna have to clean your clock." He announced, pulling himself back to his feet and standing up, his composure returning.

"Oh Yeah? If you're so good, then stop this!"

A spell activation signaled by the sound effect. Immediately after I activated a second spell card from my hand, A blue spirit dove into the graveyard, it snagged possession of one of my monsters hitting the field in attack position.

**Spell Economics** saved me from paying the 800 LP cost of **Premature Burial**.

**Dark Magician of Chaos (**_**ATK: 2800 DEF: 2600).**_

My hand zipped over to my Duel-Disk clicking a button in.

"**Error: Missed Timing."**

"What?!"

Racking his field and grave with my eyes, I came to understand what happened.

His last back row was missing, and sitting on top of his graveyard was the quick-play spell card **Effect Shut**.

_**Effect shut **__\- (Quick Play) Activate only when your opponent activates an Effect Monster's effect. Negate the activation, and destroy that monster._

"That's my sensei's **D.M.O.C.** you spazztic. I'm not going to let you use it on me, no sir."

_**SHIT! SHIT! SHIT! That's ALL my revivals.**_

"Nice try retard, but not nice enough."

I discarded **Card Destruction**, desperately hoping for my RNG to start evening out.

I targeted his **Raiza the Storm Monarch**. **Snipe Hunter** pulled the trigger, The roulette wheel spun.

**6.**

"_**God hates me! WHAT IS THIS?!"**_

"I think this has been the most entertaining 10 minutes of my life!" Viktor cheered, fighting back another laughing spell from overtaking him.

One more… One last card. I released it to the scrapyard, one last chance for lady luck to smile my way.

**1.**

…

"**AHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAAHAHAHAHAHAHAAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!"**

_Impossible… This can't be real. There's no way…_

I activated my **Diamond Dude**'s effect… _and the card excavated was… a Monster… right to the bottom of the deck… Unreal._

…

**End Phase.**

The game continued, Viktor took his turns while I could only stand pondering the odds. The numbers were getting jumbled up, the only conclusion I could come up with was that the odds were unfathomably low.

My resources were shot, and my morale was murdered.

_I failed… He was like a hurricane, and I got swept up into his game. I should have ignored him._

Turn by turn, everything was taken from me, and my life points dropped to zero.

(-2400LP **| Kisuke: 0 - Viktor: 9200**)

"**Winner: Contestant 16: Viktor Hitoshima - **_**(2-0-0) Best of three Match.**_**"**

* * *

┬┴┬┴┤寸法の橋渡し├┬┴┬┴

"This is _soooo_ going on my Instagram."

I looked up, a crowd of people surrounding me all with their phones pulled out.

"Come on everyone, gather round. Get a good shot and tag it with _**#BrainDead**_ so It can fill my Twitter feed." Viktor instructed the several chumps apparently good enough in his clan to make it to nationals.

Dameon frowned looking down to me, his foot hovering in the air.

"_**Eddy! Eddy! Eddy! Eddy!"**_ A chant began.

"**Lick it you autistic fuck!"** Viktor boomed.

I decided to just get it over, my tongue poked out of my mouth. Up, up, and away until encountering the expectant rubberized surface, flakes of grime sticking to my tongue with a mere lap.

"Ewwwww." I heard.

"_**Special Ed**_ really did it!" A goon exclaimed.

"AHAHAHAHAH!" Viktor burst out, everyone except Dameon following suit, probably worried I wouldn't trade him his card back after this.

I took my shirt, scraping my tongue off with its interior., the friction heating it up.

Viktor squatted down looming over me, as I pushed off the ground. "Do you know how to take care of weeds _**Eddy**_?"

…

"_You pull them out by the roots. Weeds don't get to frolic in the garden like the other plants. It might not be fair, but hey, that's just life_." He whispered just loud enough so I could hear him.

Viktor stood up, Yawned, and stretched out his body a bit.

"Man, people are gonna think I'm the _**McGregor**_ of Duel Monsters after this one. They're gonna call me a Prophet and call you a scrub. _Ahhh_, as all things should be. Have fun in Loser's Bracket. Smell 'ya later hater."

_Maybe I shouldn't have sensationalized this…_ I was left with a bit of clarity through hindsight.

"I'm sorry for Viktor, I don't really have any control over him anymore," Dameon said.

"Don't sweat it." I managed while gritting my teeth so hard I thought they might shatter.

… _Right decision or not… There's no turning back, my path is before me._

* * *

┬┴┬┴┤寸法の橋渡し├┬┴┬┴

With a vengeance, I tore through my next games and matches.

"**Destiny Hero - Prisma**, suck up his **Judgement Dragon**!"

**Destiny Hero - Prisma (**_**ATK: 3400 DEF: 2600).**_

"_**Entering - **_**Battle Phase**_**." **__The speaker chirped._

"Attack! **Destiny Hero - Prisma, **Destroy his** Lyla!**

(-1700LP **| Kisuke: 2150 - Leon: 0**)

"**Winner: Contestant 126: Kisuke Tashiro - **_**(2-0-0) Best of three Match.**_**"**

* * *

┬┴┬┴┤寸法の橋渡し├┬┴┬┴

"Then I tribute **Dark Magician of Chaos** to inflict 800 damage."

(-1700LP **| Kisuke: 4800 - Junko: 1300**)

"And now bring him back with **Dimension Fusion** for free, pick Dimension Fusion to return to hand, then do it again…"

(-1700LP **| Kisuke: 4800 - Junko: 500**)

"-And again... "

(-1700LP **| Kisuke: 4800 - Junko: 0**)

"**Winner: Contestant 126: Kisuke Tashiro - **_**(2-1-0) Best of three Match.**_**"**

* * *

┬┴┬┴┤寸法の橋渡し├┬┴┬┴

I fought my way through another two contenders, and finally, I've arrived at my opportunity.

Viktor was absolutely slaughtered by the 1st seed, Niomi Princeton _**(2-0-0), **_finally knocking him down into my bracket.

He arrived at the arena, but a lot less cheerful than his typical self.

"Did you _actually_ get humbled?"

"Did you actually lick Day-Day's shoe?" He quipped with a lot less steam than I would have expected.

_Huh..._

…

"What is going on here?!" The asshole asked, pointing to me.

"What do you mean?" I asked.

"You coming to nationals, it had to be a fluke… You managing to stay in the contest until I could body you, now that had to be a miracle." He explained. "… but you, standing before me again… this late in the tournament… What is going on?"

"Don't tell you you still haven't noticed. Viktor, I have creamed all of the competition I've faced beside you, and I only lost to you because of dogshit RNG! You hear that? I just got unfortunate."

Viktor ran his fingers along his chin, contemplating something over.

"So after I win this one… I still can't beat Seto the II or Niomi… And I get trapped in Top 8 again! Why can't I ever win versus either of them?! I get wins off Chloe easily, so what's the difference? Hmmm." Viktor mumbled to himself before pulling at his hair.

The fire in my gut burned even hotter. He was so focused on the thought of his next match, he wasn't even giving me the time of day.

_Unacceptable. How can I get my revenge if he's not even a shadow of his former self? This is what repeated losses does to him? I never imagined him to be so fragile._

Viktor stared off in space. "Maybe I shouldn't even side _that_ if I end up re-matching her. She just finds a way around it every time anyways. Waste of a better draw to be honest."

"Dude! Let's go. Earth to Viktor - anyone home?"

"Or maybe…" He hummed.

"Yo, Ref. Isn't this Delay of game?"

A few seconds went by before the ref raised a Yellow card into the air.

_Ha!_

Viktor glanced up, dark circles visible under his eyes. "Huh?"

"Bro, We're about to start. Let's go!" I shouted impatiently.

"Ah… alright." He responded, walking up and taking his place.

_Wow… He looks like shit._

"**Match - Game 1 of 3 - 8000 Life Points. Duelist's ready?"**

* * *

┬┴┬┴┤寸法の橋渡し├┬┴┬┴

"**Winner: Contestant 126: Kisuke Tashiro - **_**(1-0-0) Best of three Match.**_**"**

"Does this mean you're going to lick my shoe now?" I asked, kicking my foot out.

"..." Only the roar of spectators in the background kept me from being swallowed by the awkward silence.

Viktor stood on his platform blank-eyed, hardly said a word our entire first game.

_He usually never shuts up! What is this?_

"**LICK MY SHOE RETARD!"** I shouted.

That snapped him back. He blinked once, then twice.

Viktor answered with a swift "Dumbass, I will _never_ lick your shoe."

"Hey! We had a deal."

"That was for last match. I'm not a phone carrier, so no rollover time retard."

_Hey! That was the most Viktor'ish thing he's said so far! It means nothing beating him when he's like this. He's got to be at his best for it to be worth a damn._

"Viktor, snap out of it! I don't know what happened to you, but you're not even playing _**YOUR **_game, not at all. This is just sad."

"I don't even need to play my game to beat you. Either way, you're an easy clap."

I froze in disbelief. His words could have been the same, but the UMPH, and sass, and the wind in his sails… Everything that carried his words fell short.

"You just LOST to ME. Is that even REGISTERING? YOU TOOK AN **L** \- TO ME."

Viktor convulsed. His body shook like a cold wave rushed through him. Now that I took a look, I noticed his skin was far paler than earlier. His eyes were a bloodshot red.

_Yeesh - Wait, was he crying? Did he cry after he lost? I have to go back and look at the Livestream._

"-Okay, even if you don't _**HAVE**_ to play your game to beat me, Wouldn't the practice be good for Kaiba or Niomi or whatever?"

He slumped over, resting his face in his hands.

"I just can't... 4 years, 34 matches, and 75 total games including practice games between both of them. 75 games and I can't even win once… Am I not the best, after all? Is bridging the gap impossible?"

"Viktor! Focus on our match. Pull your head out of your ass. I can't even be proud of winning like this. Come on!"

...

* * *

┬┴┬┴┤寸法の橋渡し├┬┴┬┴

"**Winner: Contestant 126: Kisuke Tashiro - **_**(2-0-0) Best of three Match.**_**"**

"I HATE YOU! YOU EVEN KILLED THE FUN OF WINNING. YOU'RE PATHETIC. I didn't even get the chance to beat you, you beat yourself like a chronic masturbator."

I was so mad I couldn't see straight. I wanted to wring his little neck, but if I did that, I'd never get my chance at _true_ redemption.

_That win doesn't count in my book. Not by a long shot._

"_**Feature Match Conclusion**_: **Seed 2 - Seto Kaiba the II wins **_**(2-1-0)**_** over the first Seed - Niomi Princeton!**" The speakers announced from the several Livestreams playing on the monitors overhead.

_Niomi, you robbed me of a meaningful win over Viktor. I've got a lot of pent up aggression to work out and I'ma throw it __**ALL YOUR WAY**__. Watch out!_

* * *

┬┴┬┴┤寸法の橋渡し├┬┴┬┴

Waiting on the concrete because of an urgent text sent by my mom, I slumped back against the stone retaining wall before spotting my mom and… And the fair brunette with academic glasses from the local shop in Domino.

"Ah, Yumiko. You came all the way out here?"

"Yeah, your mom invited me to come watch with her and that sounded fun… Could we-"

Steve hijacked the conversation with his volume and charisma. "Oh, I'd recognize this beauty anywhere. Yeah, Kisuke, I already found your sister on Instagram."

He turned back to my mom just as smooth as the butter in his veins, "Hi. I'm Usaku Akatsuki, but everyone close calls me Steve. Nice to meet you Ruri."

He held out his hand, my mom sputtering of shock. "Haah, no dear. I'm Kisuke's mother, not sister. Haha, you're so silly."

"Huh? Really?" Steve acted surprised.

"Oww, stop it. This is a friend of yours Ki? There's no way I could look like his sister… Is there?" She bought right into Steve's bullshit.

_**Oh NO...**_

"No, really, I had no idea. Wow. Mr Tashiro must be a lucky guy."

"Yeah, you'd think so. It's a mystery to me why he needs _soo_ many reminders to appreciate what I do for him."

"_**MOM!"**_

"Huh? Oh, sweetie, Sorry. Let me take a quick look for you." she said swooping over.

"Wha? - Hey! _**Not what I meant**_. Wha-" I struggled as her motherly instincts came out in full force.

She dabbed at the top of my cheek under my eye, I could see over her Steve had the most massive shit-eating grin while I watched in horror as he measured her waist and hips with his hands while she was preoccupied with me.

"Tsk, Tsk. I never thought Aketo was so vindictive. I'm never going to offer him my cookies again, and it serves him right. How dare he touch my baby."

"I'd love to eat your cookies, Mrs Tashiro," Steve said.

"I think your friend might appreciate my cooking more than you. I think he'll be a good influence on you. Very polite! _I like him,_" she whispered in the last part.

"_**MOM!**_"

That was when Steve finally realized all his actions were being scrutinized by the wide-eyed Yumiko who'd silently been gawking at him this entire time.

"What?! I'm just trying to say good work, you know, picking your friends." She answered back overly cheerful, her eyes' sparkling with pride.

"_Ten-Thousand Spoons, Dude_," Steve choked out, appearing like a trapped rat "...Uh, Oh yeah! We've been online friends forever, isn't that right, _Ki_?" Steve shifted topics with all the subtlety of a brick.

"Yeah... for years..." I agreed, unenthusiastically.

"We finally got to meet up in person! _Mamn_, you have no idea. I was so excited to meet him in person because we have this special connection, I don't really know how else to explain it. I've been mentoring him in Duel monsters for a long time now, Taught him basically everything he knows."

"Wow! So? So, _this_ is why you've improved so much! Isn't this wonderful Ki. You're lucky to have a friend like that, looking out for your best interests and all. He's a keeper for-sure."

"You hear that man? Your mom thinks I'm a keeper. That makes me super happy to hear Mrs Tashiro. I think you're my new favorite mom."

"What about your mom?"

"I don't have one," He said.

"Awwww! Poor baby. Come over here, let me give you a hug."

_This... This is not happening. This is all a big dream. A big joke. None of this is real..._

Yumiko tugged at the front of my shirt, ushering me to follow her. Glancing back to my mom and steve, seeing them chatting without a care in the world, I decided, fuck it.

Slipping off with Yumiko, we quickly ended up in an alleyway.

"I don't know what I just watched back there, and I don't want to know. Boys are weird and require no justification in my eyes."

"Thanks. I don't know what's wrong with him. I don't think being dropped on his head as a baby can even justify half the stuff he does."

"Heh! … eh..." Her tone tanked, an air of seriousness clouding over us. "... I think Aketo's finally lost it." She rasped, tears welling in her eyes.

_No - no… Sociopathic duelists and facing statistical improbabilities are easy compared to crying women—my Kryptonite._

"*sniffle* I can't believe how self-absorbed he is. Like the entire world has to revolve around him. Does he even hear himself talk? He says you've been faking having Aspergers this whole time as some sort of scheme to screw him and humiliate him. Like what? How out of touch do you have to be with reality to even come up with that?"

_Please, I'll do anything not to see you cry. Do not cry!_

I grabbed onto her wrists, pulling them over my head and resting them on my shoulders, barely hanging off my back.

"Wha?" She squeaked. Her face flushed a bright pink. "What are you doing?"

"It just looked like you needed a curveball. I can't remember the last time I've ever seen you this upset."

Actually, I can't remember any time she's ever been upset. Well... At least that means its the truth.

"Ohh... hah, yeah. Thanks." She sputtered, the tone of her voice climbing higher.

"..."

I stood awkwardly as she gazed up to my face, both of her hands folded behind my neck.

"I've been thinking about what you said lately…" She said.

"Yeah? Which _thing_ that I said?"

"About if there was anything that I liked and wanted to be good at."

"Yeah? And?"

Yumiko pulled her arms away, craning her neck over her shoulder to mess with her bag strapped to her back. She slung it off, carrying it in front of her while heading over to a brown metal bench large enough to seat a family and taking a seat.

"I dusted off my old sketchpad." She said, taking out a spiral graphics pad and thumbing through it in haste. "Here, this was back in elementary," She said, stalling on a sketch near the notebook's start.

The picture was constructed of a lot of abstract lines, but when pulling back, it was easy to make out her face, Aketo's, and mine.

"I wish things could just go back to how they used to be. Before it got all complicated."

"We can't ever go back. We can only look to the future."

"Duh, It's not like I really believe in time-travel or something so crazy. It's just… I miss how things used to be. Is that such an unhealthy thing to admit?"

"No, no. Not at all... Er, actually, I don't know. Recently, I've felt like I had all the answers, but now everything is falling apart for me."

"What do you mean?! You clinched a top 16 at nationals! Not even Aketo ever managed that. Here look." She flipped through her notebook once again, this time landing on one of the last pages. "I drew this last night."

She passed the graphics pad over to me, and I laid it across my lap. On the page, I saw a portrait of myself, with an absurd amount of detail transcribed.

My pupils carried dark graphite shading simulating how light would refract off. Every strand of hair was meticulously and pain-stakingly penciled in. In my caricature's arms, I hoisted a fat trophy overhead, a brilliant grin plastered over my face, and a black silhouette of a female in the background.

"This looks really awesome. You should definitely keep drawing, I can tell you're passionate about it. I'm glad you showed me these."

"There's... one more actually…" She struggled, ushering me to turn the page with her finger.

"Oh?" I turned the page without hesitation.

_**Thump!**_

…

_**Thump, Thump!**_

…

_**Thump!**_

…

_**Thump, Thump!**_

A vine etched with every color, a bud of blue rose petals bloomed. An unclothed female dangled out of the bud. From the other side, an ancient lamp poured out a gas, ultimately culminating… in a genie-like thing… It looked exactly like me. Yumiko drew herself sprouting out of a rose petal, and me being shot out of a lamp… and we were… making out.

My eyes widened. I gaped back to her, looking for some kind of explanation—something to help me make sense of this. I don't know what I expected to be honest. I guess the ball was in my court now, it was on me to respond to this.

"I…" I started and stopped, trying to figure out a better wording.

"I

-I don't know what I was thinking! I'm sorry, I'm just complicating everything again."

"Wait, hold on for a second!" I commanded, catching Yumiko by the wrist before she could flee. "This is how you see me?" I asked, pointing down to the art piece.

"I've always felt trapped. I've liked you for a long time, but always knew I'd be left behind. I just accepted it and tried bottling everything up. But then, when you came by the shop, and I got to see your determination, and everything you've gone through recently so that you can follow your dreams, it got me thinking… I'm dumb, I don't know why I'm even saying this."

"Huh? No, no. I'm listening. Let me hear it. How can I know how you feel if we don't communicate?"

She smiled nervously, still pink in the face, but she responded with an energetic nod.

"Okay, Okay… So yeah, I've always been watching you, so I can appreciate it better than most getting to watch all your hard work paying off. I'm really happy for you."

"So happy for me, that you want to do this to me?" I pointed to her masterful art piece.

"Eep!" She squealed. "I-I...yes. You make me want to see if maybe, just maybe, I could live my dreams too. And to make a living off my art. As I say this out out-loud, I realize how crazy it all sounds. Some people get to live their dreams, and the rest of us just have to tough it out. That's why I knew 'this' - 'us' was always a fantasy."

"Why do you keep downing yourself?" I asked sincerely, taking a moment to brush some of the brown hair that blew past her eyes shielding them from my vision. "Do you think I get off on hearing you shit talk yourself?"

"Wah - I… No, of course not. I-"

"Shh-shh-shh, Listen," I said, putting a finger up to her lips. "Calm down. Okay? Just breathe girl."

Her chest rose and fell, adopting a steadier rhythm.

"That niggling voice in your head, the one that says things like "Your a loser" or "You'll never amount to anything" or "you can't- yada,yada,yada." I paused. "That's fear talking. If you let it keep talking you out of doing what you want, you will be miserable your entire life. You have to put your dreams in action, which is exactly what you did by showing me this." I said before pointing to her graphics pad in my lap.

"If you can take this step, all you have to do is keep moving forward. It won't be easy, but nothing worth doing is ever easy."

"What happened to you?" She let out before realizing her mistake.

"-what do you mean?" I asked.

"You're just… different. I don't know how to describe it."

"A bad kind of different?"

"No! Not at all. Sorry for even-" She garbled, standing back up and pacing around.

"Nuhh-uhh. I don't want to hear any more "I'm sorries," Okay?"

Her attention refocused back on me, I stood up, closing the notepad and handing it back to her.

"Mhmm! Okay."

I leaned in closer, pulling her into my embrace, and arms wrapping around her back. I stroked a fingertip up and down caressing her.

In a moment of weakness and vulnerability, a simple sentence spilled out of my lips.

"I want you," I whispered into her ear.

She squeezed me back.

"You - You mean it?"

My pulse thumped in my temple,

Mini-Kisuke was standing at attention, pushed up against the back of my zipper. My body temperature was climbing.

"Yeah. I have to warn you though. I don't have a good track record with relationships. I can't really figure out why."

"Maybe 'till now you were looking in the wrong places." She said, a strangely confident grin appearing on her face.

"Yeah? You think so?"

She reached over, tapping the Graphics pad on my lap, right on the image of our caricatures making out which also happened to hide my wood underneath.

She stared at me, expectation glistening in her eyes.

I leaned in closer, her eyes pressed shut, her eyelashes trembling slightly.

_Wow, she is adorable. And apparently mine._

I couldn't hold myself back anymore. No-Fap Kisuke was a beast starved of his primal desires. Unleashing the beast inside surprised even me.

I grabbed the back of her neck without a hint of shame or hesitation, pressing our faces together, our lips meeting reasonably symmetrically at first.

I came back for seconds, and thirds, and fourths. Eventually, I found myself kissing down the length of her neck, my fingers running through her silky hair.

"Oh-muh-god." She panted heavily.

I couldn't resist getting cheeky. My new handhold squished in my grip. She leaned into me harder, really sticking to me now. Her thigh grazed my crotch, the pressure grinding away despite not knowing if it was intentional. A handful of her ass slipped out of my fingers, so I did what any red-blooded male would do and went back for another squeeze.

She stood on her tippy toes, nuzzling her forehead into mine, her face still flushed an incredible bright red.

"I can't believe… this is... actually happening." Her eyes alight with the burning flame of lust.

"I know it, baby. You'd better get used to it too because it's gonna be hard to keep me away now."

"Who says I want to keep you away?"

"Touché"

She pulled back, I reluctantly let go of her rear. She patted down her clothes, smoothing them out. A passion fueled smile hung off her lips. She nervously glanced off from side to side checking our surroundings.

"What?" I asked. "Change of heart already?" I teased.

"Nope. But I have to pee."

"I'm pretty sure we walked past a bathroom on the way here," I said, turning around and waving her over. She trotted over, watching up to me, catching my swinging hand mid-air and claiming it as her own, her fingers interlocking between mine followed by a cutesy giggle.

"This doesn't even feel real." She said, contention laced in her feminine voice.

"I know what you mean," I said, hardly believing the scenario I found myself in.

We made our way back to the bathroom we passed, and I waited patiently outside, considering whether or not I wanted to use the water fountain or not. There were Yellow, red, and green stains of color all across it.

_Someone fired off some smoke bombs in there. Maybe I'll just wait._

I leaned up against the cinder wall, catching my surroundings.

Traffic cones littered the right side of the street where the blacktop was pulled clean off. The lamp overhead flickered, sounding like a bug crashed into it.

I quickly grew bored, defaulting to browsing my phone.

I scrolled down and down. My **ViewTube** feed was spitting out terrible recommendations one after another. On every dumb or uninteresting looking video, I'd just mark it '_Not Interested._'

_**CHIIIIIIIIIIIIINNNNGGGGGGG!**_

A loud ring nearly made me jump out of my skin in an abrupt return to awareness.

"Don't you fuckin' tell me what to do!"

I stared at the old man who was yelling out across somewhere. I couldn't tell who he was talking to. That was when my attention landed on his hand, an orange traffic cone in his grasp.

The cone swung. _**CHIIIIIIIIIIIIINNNNGGGGGGG!**_

It smacked the stop sign once more, a harmonic hummm ringing out loudly.

"You're not the boss of me! _***Burp* **_You stop!"

Pedestrians turned the opposite direction, scattering in a calm manner away from the deranged crackhead.

_**CHIIIIIIIIIIIIINNNNGGGGGGG!**_

_**CHIIIIIIIIIIIIINNNNGGGGGGG!**_

_**CHIIIIIIIIIIIIINNNNGGGGGGG!**_

"Buddy! What the fuck are you doin'?" I screamed at him.

The man turned my way, revealing the strangest ensemble I'd ever seen. Black suit pants stained and caked with mud. He had a lab coat dyed grey from the dust and debris he no doubt crawled out of. His mop of receding hair was the strangest light blue color I'd ever seen. All and all, this man gave off dangerous vibes, and I'd make sure he didn't get anywhere near Yumiko if I could help it.

His arm dropped, the cone hitting the blacktop with a _**thud**_. He approached, the cone dragging while he walked.

"You! I know you. You think you're" _**Urrgh, **_he gagged. "-better than me, don'tcha?" The crazed drug-fiend spoke.

"Me? I know I am. Anyone could tell that." I said, my grip tightening around a metal heft in my pocket.

"Yeah? You know nothin', ha! And You'll never amount to anything meaningful. N' everything you hold dear will die by your hands. That is what it means to be human in a universe born to spawn infinite idiots."

"Wow! I'm surprised you've got any brain cells left for philosophy, you're more cracked out than a firepit."

He stopped in place a reasonable enough distance between us that I could breathe a breath of relief. A rancid stench permiated my nostrils.

"Think the world is your oyster, don'tcha?"

"Of Course. Dreams can only be achieved through hard work, dedication, … and maybe a bit of luck. I'd bet you don't have any of the three, which is why I get the privilege of smelling the shit stuck to your clothes mixed with a cocktail of different alcohol you hack of a philosopher."

"Hey now! Look up _Diogenous_ you arrogant, narcissistic schmuck." He said flicking me off with both hands at the same time, a feat only accomplishable by dropping the traffic cone fully. "Stupid bitch!"

"Yeah? Look up soap and some meaningful employment you filthy mongrel. Everyone ran away because you literally smell like shit. You've really got your life together, don't you?"

"There's no god, asshole! but maybe one day you'll stumble upon the next closest thing. Her name is Love. Love brings truth and clarity. Real love, not whatever is goin' on in there." He pointed to the bathroom.

My alertness jumped through the roof.

_This motherfucker's been spying on us, Oh, okay. He's a creep for sure._

"Yeah, but with the real deal, your perspective will shift. The secrets of life worth knowing gradually become self-evident. Life is meaningless without connections to keep us tethered to our humanity."

"Is that your big reveal? Don't get old or let your loved ones die? Burn bright and die young? Great message for an impressionable teenager you piece of shit. Your destroyed ya wrinkly, run-down bastard, what would make you think anyone would want life advice from you?"

"Fine! _Yuu_ don't want it? You didn't deserve it anyways."

He dug into his grimy black suit pants that were splattered with mud.

My muscles tensed, a folded shape approached. Instinct drew my knife, and I held it out before me before the paper slapped right into my chest.

Confused, I pinched the paper to my chest while stepping back, making more room between us, giving me more potential time to react if he rushed me.

A quick glance down left me reading _Travelers Guide to the Multiverse _on a pamphlet, the ink worn from age and deterioration.

"I don't care what you do with it! I won't be held responsible." He said, before dumping his stomach out on the ground before me. "_**Urrrrrrrghhhhh, Kah**_, ahhh... Fuck, _**Urrrrrrrghhhhhhhhhhh**_."

"Get your disgusting ass out of here. What is this?! A joke?" I asked a little rattled to see a title like that after everything I'd gone through. I was banking on this just being all coincidence.

"Oh, You think you got everything together, nice and clean, don't you? That you're clever. That consequences don't apply to you. Ask yourself, What do you _**REALLY**_ have? Is your life rich?"

"Is my life rich? I mean, richer than yours for sure."

The elder took a jerky step forward. "A rich man whose world is his oyster, for everything is his, there is nowhere left to spit but his face."

_Hmm?_

The mysterious man opened his mouth, a coughing hack, and in seconds my forehead was caked in gunk.

The elder struck a lazy, disheveled pose as I stood in shock, nauseated by circumstance. He rested 4 fingers on his receded hairline.

"Nice Forehead! What'ter'yer gunnna _**doo,**_ pussy?"

"I'm going to kill you," I said, tightening my grip on the blade.

He took a single step backward. "You'll have to find me first, _**gay-boy**_."

My vision distorted, no, just the image of the man. A green static fuzz enveloped him, a faint flash shot my retina's with the green light. By the time I was aware of my surroundings, everything had returned to normal, all traces of the supernatural or sci-fi-esque stuff utterly vanished.

Just like that I was alone.

Birds chirped, tweeting away cheerful songs drowning out my thoughts.

My hand slid the parchment pamphlet into my back pocket while my stomach lurched.

_I think I'm gonna be sick._

…

I walked over to the water fountain, twisting the valve. A jet of water spraying down my forehead, the gunk washing off as I scrubbed furiously with my free hand.

My fingers twitched, riddled with adrenalin and uncertainty.

"What...The...Fuck?"

* * *

┬┴┬┴┤寸法の橋渡し├┬┴┬┴

**Reviewer Question: - **Now that I unloaded most of the story elements and concepts,** What Fan-Theories have you all come up with? If you'd like to share, feel free. I'll read them all.**

_**A/N:**__ Well, this is the longest chapter for any writing piece I've done to date. Took a while to figure out most of the moving components in the story and organize them well enough that it didn't feel like a collection of unrelated events. I'm kind of proud of myself for this one, but at the same time I'm so sick at looking at it. I've probably re-read over this no less than 50 times this past week, constantly seeking understanding and improvement. Let me know how I did, and maybe say something nice to keep me motivated, or not. Whatever works for you._


	8. Chapter 8

**Yu-Gi-Oh: Bridging The Dimensions**

**Article 8 - Chapter 8 - King and Crown**

* * *

┬┴┬┴┤ Chapter 8 ├┬┴┬┴

┬┴┬┴┤寸法の橋渡し├┬┴┬┴

* * *

Our party of four reconvened back outside the entrance of the convention center without a hitch.

Steve flashed a wide shit eating grin at our arrival.

_Who knows what kind of crazy insinuation that means..._

"By the way, some VIP came looking for you earlier, we said you'd be back soon but he took off in a rush. 'Draymond' I think his name was." Steve said.

"Dameon?" I asked.

Steve shrugged his massive bouldering shoulders. "Eh, Maybe?"

"Gee, you've been a _GREAT_ help steve, thanks."

Steve brightened right up, practically beaming either ignoring or not picking up on my sarcasm.

"You're welcome buddy."

My phone flew out speaking into the mic, "_Kai-bot_, call Dameon Toyz."

"_**Okay, calling Dameon Toyz mobile." **_My phone reberbed.

"_**Ring~ Ring~ Ring~ 'Hey, I need to tell you something, but not over the phone. Meet me on the second floor near room 209 by the ice dispensers."**_

"Uh, can it wait until after my next match, I'm kinda crunching low on time."

"_**Come fast. You'll want to hear this."**_

"Okay? … I guess I'm on my way up." I hung up turning back to my friends and family.

"I gotta get ready for my next match. Wish me goodluck."

"Goodluck!" Yumi said, taking a tentative seat on the outer brimming of the fountain.

"Goodluck out there Sweetie." My mother blew a kiss at me.

"Fight out there extra hard for me, I got knocked down a bracket too, worse of all by my parent's rivals kid… a Trusdale of the Cyber Art Dojo."

"Cyber Art Dojo?"

"A slightly more prominent dojo than our Beast Style Dojo, apparently it's grown a lot because several pros have come out of it."

"That sucks, I really gotta run though. Catch all of you later."

Yumi's eyes twinkled as I began backpedaling away.

I turned and rushed inside, not bothering to look back for a second.

Around and past pedestrians I came to the stairwell, gliding up and exiting at the second floor.

There were SIGNIFICANTLY less people on this floor, as I spun on my heels, I counted only three.

Glancing around I found a sign with fat yellow arrows pointing to diverging paths to different places.

_Rooms 205-209, __-_

My soles squeaked on the tile as I hurried.

My breathing began growing more laboured.

_Pathetic._

Ducking down another hallway, the path bent and opened out into a little lobby.

_Lecture Room - 209_read a metal plate mounted above two metal doors with pressure bars to push them open with.

The lights overhead flickered.

A nudge from behind blindsided me. I hopped forward spinning around, my back spasming.

"Oooww." I let out.

Dameon stood before me, a little of the color drained from his face and skittering around very unlike himself.

"Is everything good?"

"Turn your phone off."

"Uh… okay?" I was caught off guard, but decided to comply, holding down my power button for the sake of curiosity.

The screen went black, and I slipped it back into my pocket.

"Listen, I'm going to tell you something you won't hear from almost anyone else. If I do, I expect us to be even for what happened today."

"Okay dude. What's got your panties in a twist?"

"Everything I tell you from now on, you didn't hear this from me and don't take this public for your own safety. Can you agree to that?"

"Of Course. If you're doing me the solid of looking out for me, the least I can do is respect your wishes _Day-Day_." I grinned.

"Your next opponent is _**NOT NORMAL**_. Her deck should theoretically be inconsistent using probability to calculate probable hands and draws, but she defies fate consistently pulling top deck after top deck. That's not even the worst of it… It's hard to explain this next part without sounding insane."

"I already know some people are born lucky. I wasn't born yesterday."

"No, you can't use logic to explain this stuff. The real problematic side effect of duelists like her and other special exceptions is… the best way I can describe it is fatigue bordering on narcolepsy."

"Narcoleptic fatigue?" I questioned, recalling Viktor's abysmal condition in our last match. "Tell me more."

"The best of the best, when they clash with someone who doesn't have what I've dubbed The Gift, their intensity and strength of mind are so refined it amplifies the holographic interference you'd normally get. I haven't been able to figure it all out yet, but your body has to withstand bombardment of all the energy they channel, until you run yourself dry and can't continue any longer."

"That sounds like an urban legend, but I've seen stranger things in our world that makes it hard to shrug this off."

"I assure you, this is real. I've been devising ways to figure out if you can blossom ordinary people into '_Gift' _holders, it's the reason I became a sensei in the first place, but I haven't had any success yet, but sometimes Viktor show's sparks that make me believe he can awaken it too."

"I hate him with a passion." I couldn't help but blurt out unintentionally.

"I don't like the brat's attitude, but the perks were too good to pass up, and he turned out to be my most promising disciple. Can't have your cake and eat it too I guess."

"Perks?"

"Yeah. Viktor's father is the acting police chief of Domino city. I never get haggled by law enforcement, can speed all day, also I - Wait we don;t have time for this… Let me finish what I was saying so you can get to your match."

I nodded, agreeing completely.

"Viktor's intensity, strength of mind, and karma are stronger than mine, if not for having been the one to show the kid the ropes, I'd fare significantly worse. As is, the kid takes 40 percent of the matches between us, _I guess I'm one hell of a teacher_. Doesn't look like she cripples most opponents either, only the ones that can pose as a threat experience the scope of her ability."

He nodded while staring off into the distance, I followed his line of sight over to the stairwell and could tell how badly he wanted this conversation to end.

"The best tip I can give for you is to either match her intensity, or accept defeat. There is a near zero percent chance you'll win if you can't rise to her level. What's worse, if you try matching her intensity, she'll have to start trying and then your energy starts REALLY disappearing. This is the reason I haven't entered the pro-Leagues yet myself." he said.

"All pro's have this _gift_?"

He shifted his weight over to his other foot making some motions with his hands as he picked up his opinion in mid stride.

"No, I'd say half are about like me, without any distinguished gift, but I want to conquer this so my entrance into the league is as prominent as possible. Anyways, Then comes the half who appear **VERY LUCKY** who have yet matured or mastered it. A rare, mass minority breed of humans can unlock the 2nd stage of the gift, giving them the ability whether conscious or not, to magnify and control the holographic interference from duels, only a select few people cultivate to this level. Niomi is one, and her uncle Chazz Princeton is ofcourse another who I'd argue has '_The Gift.' _and has matured it to the 2nd stage."

I stood in contemplation for a minute, working through all this data in my head.

_The 'gift' kind of sounds like the heart of the cards... doesn't that boil down to faith? If those aliens made concessions like they said they did, it should be possible for me to at least step into her ballpark, right?_

I noticed how twitchy the semi-pro acted. _He wants to wrap this up as fast as possible._

"Do you have any theories on how people acquire the first stage of "the gift"?"

"A legendary duelist once told me to _'believe so hard there is no other choice than its inevitably.'_"

"Who was it?"

The fixture overhead blinked out again, the fluorescent bulb humming and going dark before popping back on with a _**Clink**_.

"Joey Wheeler... sounds idiotic right? I thought so too was some upstart back then who had no clue, but now I look back on that advice and finally started wondering if there was more to it or if it's utter garbage and has no correlation."

I nodded showing my understanding, before checking to see if he had anything else he wanted to add.

"That it, or was there anything else?"

"Nope, not really..." Dameon said, angling his body for his escape.

"Well, thanks for everything man. I have to prep for my match."

He took off without a moment to waste, mumbling over his shoulder as he hauled his ass out of there with some heat just short of a run.

"Yeah, I've got to head over, I have some responsibilities I have to take care of as well."

"Cya."

His figure retreated and got smaller until disappearing down a hallway.

_Faith... Heart of the cards... and Believing till it's real._

What is the common denominator these things would umbrella over?

...

I booted my phone back on, my lock screen photo of Kobe Bryant displaying on the LCDs.

Kobe didn't have the hand size or vertical of Jordan, the strength and body of someone like Lebron, but what he did have was an obsession. A drive for improvement that would surpass all peers.

Kobe created the Mamba Mentality to describe how he becomes a different person intentionally, one with a killing instinct and eye to exploit any and all vulnerabilities.

_what could 'The Heart of the Cards' be simplified down to? A respect in your deck? Alterations that really make it yours? Or is it really as simple as trusting that your deck will give you the card you need most..._

"If only _'the gift'_, or _'the heart of the cards'_, or _whatever that shit is_ could be explained as easily as Kobe's mamba mentality…"

_-Or can it?_

Yugi, the best to ever do it had an alter ego if you can even call it that. Perhaps creating that other self, an alternate version of me who does get all the draws, who can come in clutch and bring home the championship, who can turn off compassion and conscientiousness to live in the moment and run like a war-machine.

I closed my eyes, straining to block out all my senses so I'd be left with only my thoughts.

_There's a Mamba inside me. A hungry insatiable beast whose only goal is to dominate and win._

I visualized Kobe of my memories in his '_killer mode'_, going full Mamba, and my current self that I found lacking compared to my next opposition.

A blue and orange vortex swallowed both, polymerizing them.

A silhouette rose, a giant with eyes void of regard for anything but his deepest obsessions.

The new polymerized personality reminded me of a king's crown. Something I could wear and utilize when the circumstances demanded it.

Light flooded into my pupils as my eyelids lifted, my perspective reforged by my realization.

"I might stand a chance yet."

My words came out all wrong, my grin turning upside down from how soft it sounded.

"No…" I whispered. Both of my hands rose to my head, resting an imaginary crown atop it.

A tyrant took the throne, my driver's seat occupied by the best version of me I could create.

"Doubt? I doubt nothing. My victory is certain. The only impossibility I know is defeat."

* * *

┬┴┬┴┤寸法の橋渡し├┬┴┬┴

"**Match - Game 1 of 3 - 8000 Life Points. Duelist's ready?"**

The roar of local spectators surged. Vibrations from the waves of stomping feet on the bleachers overwhelmed the large room even as tall as the ceilings were.

"Beat him in two turns!" A girl on the stands shrieked.

"Easy clap - Easy clap." Viktor tried cheering over everyone before incidentally starting a round of applause that swept over the crowd.

_Sit your ass down and watch how it's done Viktor, you might just learn something._

With the chop of my arm, the duel-disk folded out engaging and booting on the LCDs.

My opponent faced me, her sharp grey eyes were unfocused, lost in a daydream or thought. Long black locks dangled and twisted down hanging at her pronounced collarbone. Her unblemished porcelain skin told the story she's been successful in avoiding the sun thus far. Her white skinny jeans hugged her thighs in a perfect fit leaving little to the imagination, in fact I swear I can make out a camel toe from over here.

I shook my head left and right to rid myself of my perversions.

_Can't afford to get distracted._

I closed my eyes, dropping the imaginary crown over my dome.

Logic faded to the background.

People, Ideas, opinions… Everything vanished leaving only one thing, the match.

The match was this moment everything, as far as I was concerned there was nothing before or after, only this moment to be seized.

"This one goes out to my boy Viktor, who still hasn't got a dub over Niomi!" I pointed him out on the stands, a scowl appearing as he shrunk into a slump. "Hahaha!"

Niomi's Duel Disk popped out of inactivity folding out and repositioning adopting its active form. As the clear orb illuminated red, the low hum of static began buzzing. A gust ripped through the arena like a whip forcing me back a step from the gust's sheer power.

I swallowed my indecision, leaning onto my toes matching my opponent's intensity with raw determination.

Countless variations of win conditions falling into place placed in the recesses of my brain, goosebumps broke out over my arms and back.

I pressed a button-down, a hologram of a six-sided white die dropping, rolling, and stopping landing on a five.

Her die followed immediately after, but the roll resulted in a four.

"Guess I'll take the first turn!" I drew.

I peered down to my cards.

_Hmm..._

"I play **Allure of Darkness**." The mechanical chirp from my spell hitting the field played.

After drawing two, I banished a dark monster from my hand.

I felt the workings of a smile fighting to break loose, letting it loose.

The tension in my shoulders subsided, an overbearing weight became hardly an inconvenience.

With the flick of a wrist, another card hit my spell/trap zone.

"Niomi, you taking notes yet?" I bellowed, the continuous spell card **Spell Economics**activated.

A blue vortex split open the realm of the banished, pouring the lost soul in my remove from play to my side of the field.

Her expression didn't shift, painted with just as much indifference as I saw in all her other matches so far.

My core burned with vengeful heat, the idea of her refusal to acknowledge me spurring me to shatter that aloof _too-cool-to-care_ persona.

**Dark Magician of Chaos**_** (ATK: 2800 DEF: 2600)**_

"I'll pick to return my… Hmm.. decisions decisions…" I said looking between **Allure of Darkness** and **Dimension Fusion** like there was even a choice to begin with.

My finger landed on **Dimension Fusion**'_s_ art, and the card swiftly ejected from my graveyard allowing me to add it back to my hand.

"Game 1 is mine!" I announced.

Dropping my monster, I normal summoned the fair lady of the cloth, **Shadowpriestess of Ohm**.

Recognition lit up inside her grey pupils. Her gaze narrowed, her focus appearing to show up. The transition was like a daydreaming pup turning into a wolf on the prowl.

"**Winner: Contestant 126: Kisuke Tashiro - **_**(1-0-0) Best of three Match.**_**"**

Without a moment's notice, Niomi forfeited heading directly into game two on her own terms.

"You see that shit Viktor?! I'm (1-0) against Niomi, what are you again?"

Viktor's mouth hung open, unable to react any other way, speechless.

Niomi took several steps over before pointing at me "You're stronger than you look. But are you strong enough to stay together when I start trying?"

A chill crawled up my spine.

Gravity intensified, rooting me to the ground.I pressed with my legs against the floor hard enough to straighten out my legs taking the load off my knees.

A vortex of wind spawned around Niomi, her hair lifted up and streamed like ribbons overhead.

"**Match - Game 2 of 3 - 8000 Life Points. Duelist's ready?"**

I couldn't help but assume the match was taking a turn in her favor, but I murdered that thought before drowning under her overwhelming pressure.

The weight of my body got heavier as she plucked the first card off the top of her deck holding it firmly between her fingers and thumb.

One of her eyebrows jumped up before throwing a card into one of her monster zones.

A monster's normal summon heralded by the high pitch sound-effect the speaker projected.

A dark blue figure of crystallized mineral rose from the monster zone refracting the spotlight off it and beaming the area like a gnarly disco ball. Two appendages thicker and longer than arms were mounted where the shoulders would've been.

**Elemental HERO Prisma (**_**ATK: 1700 DEF: 1100)**_

The monster's effect activated a picture of Cyber End Dragon appearing on my screen before a Cyber Dragon hit her graveyard.

The distinct sound of a spell traveled through the speaker, **Cup of Ace** appearing on my LCD display.

a golden engraved chalice materialized. It rocketed a coin out and into the air spinning wildly. It arched and plummeted down coming up heads, allowing her to draw two cards.

"I'll throw down four facedowns!" Her mezzo-soprano voice sung energized by the thrill of my challenge.

_**End Phase.**_

_Four Facedowns? Jesus, where is my Giant Trunade?_

Without missing a beat, the top card slid off my deck and into my hand.

_Apparently not on the top of my deck… It must have not been the card I truly needed. I'm sure this will work out even better!_

"I play **Reinforcements of the Army**, searching **Elemental HERO Stratos** to my hand" I said before plopping him onto the field.

A sturdy and thick warrior's identity was hidden behind what appeared to be part uniform, part costume. Two tones of blue, a light and a darker made up the palate wheel of colors for the suit. The hero was strapped with a silver aesthetic back-pack jet thruster in the shape of wings used to fly, or in this case currently hover a few inches over the floor begging the question if it would be less effort to just stand.

**Elemental HERO Stratos** **(**_**ATK: 1800 DEF: 300)**_

With the press of my finger on the screen, a card ejected out of the deck to my hand, but before anything I activated the **Destiny Draw** from my hand to discard the **Destiny HERO - Disk Commander** I just finished adding.

I eyed the three facedowns of the Princeton heiress, pondering my options.

I kept looking back to the **Monster Reborn** in my hand.

I've long accepted I'm the challenger here, and that I'll need to play with some aggression if I want to close this series out.

_Fuck it, Lets go for it._

The spell hit the field, my finger reaching over to select the target.

The silver foot-tall figure caked in static took a knee landing in defense position.

**Destiny HERO - Disk Commander** **(**_**ATK: 300 DEF: 300)**_

I drew my two cards.

I sifted through cards using an **Allure of Darkness** and a **Trade-In** to get further in my deck before drawing **Card Destruction**.

I placed a face-down back row before activating the **Card Destruction**, chucking the remaining six cards from my hand to the Graveyard to draw another 6 while Niomi redrew her three.

I choked up, my lungs burning under the strain of continuously drawing new breath.

The environment dimmed, but it did nothing to dampen my drive to succeed.

"I use another Trade-In to toss **Grapha, Dragon Lord of Dark World**."

I drew another two.

"And then I play **Upstart Goblin**."

(+1000LP **| Kisuke: 8000 - Niomi: 9000**)

I picked a card off the top of my deck adding it to my hand.

The card added to my hand was none other than **The Beginning of the End.**

Sweat poured down my cheeks, my calves and quads numbingly shivered and convulsed from over-fatigue.

I touched art after art of dark monsters to banish on my screen.

_I've got to end this fast. Even I can't operate under these conditions for much longer._

After everything was said and done I drew three, bringing my total card count in hand to 8 again.

I flipped up the face-down spell card **Spell Economics **on my field and then activated my **Dimension Fusion.**

As if automatic, Niomi's back row sprung up. A hologram of a robed grey-bearded elder covered the field. His majestic look of disapproval vanquished my spell card shattering it before it could even activate.

Energy sapped from my skin like it was heat and was stripped bare and lost in the depths of a blizzard.

(-4500LP **| Kisuke: 8000 - Niomi: 4500**)

I shivered while the light shaded down a pitch from everything. While alarming, I still shoved it to the back of my head.

I panted a fat breath out, it came out as a cloud demonstrating how cold the air got in a mere moment.

_Solemn Judgement? She can make the air like zero degrees's with a fucking card effect? Fine you freak, I've still got a few tricks left too! You're not out of the woods yet girl._

The Duel-Disk played the techno-y spell card sound over its speaker, I instantly chucked two cards from my hand and waited the full two seconds to make sure the card resolved.

My graveyard lit up with a cacophony of white-pink spectral glistening orbs floating out before a beam spat out a card I quickly yoinked out of the air.

"Oh sweet _busted_ **Dimension Fusion**, I see we meet again." I kissed my card, I knew it was my win condition I'd press forward with.

I tossed **Magical Stone Excavation** in the graveyard having fulfilled its use.

A coy smirk appeared on Naomi's face causing me to freeze in my tracks.

I surveyed back over my cards with skepticism to see if there were any ways I could possibly play it cleaner with less available counter-play.

The wave of pressure bearing down escalated a notch greater. My spine is literally resisting bending itself in half.

_No, I've got to stick with my gut and get this over with. 'Be confident and never second guess yourself on the field of battle'._

"I play _**Dimension Fusion**_."

Blue light from one of my back row zones protected me from the cost of life points from the spell card

A blue portal opened, and the card effect went through.

I threw my fist in the air realizing there was a reprieve from the exhaustive oppressive force at the moment.

_I must have crushed her hope. You're not going to bluff me out of my win._

All 5 monster zones spat a creature from a blue portal onto my field.

**Dark Magician of Chaos** **(**_**ATK: 2800 DEF: 2600)**_

**Shadowpriestess of Ohm** **(**_**ATK: 1700 DEF: 1600)**_

**The Suppression Pluto** **(**_**ATK: 2600 DEF: 2000)**_

**Grapha, Dragon Lord of Dark World** **(**_**ATK: 2700 DEF: 1800)**_

**Darklord Zerato** **(**_**ATK: 2800 DEF: 2300)**_

A maelstrom of the most vicious creatures at my disposal all managed to land on my field at the same time. _This has to prove my theory! The alter-ego is the key!_

**The Suppression Pluto**'s effect fired off first, letting me guess a card in my opponent's hand for the chance of snatching their resources on the field.

"**Swift Scarecrow**!" I announced my guess glaring over to my opponent.

A red "X" appeared over my monster Pluto's head demonstrating my failure to call it right.

Her hand became visible, the card in hand was the trap **Return from the Different Dimension**.

As I finger the screen to use **D.M.O.C**'s effect, a red 'X' popped up over my card selection to return **Dimension Fusion** to my hand.

"You think you can do the same thing over and over again and no-one will adapt to it? Think again." She finished with a demented cackle that oddly spilled over with an overabundance of femininity.

The newest arrival in her graveyard was **D.D. Crow**.

_So she's hitting __**Dimension Fusion**__… now? She could have hit it earlier so why wait?_

I was so lost on the idea behind this play of events because I know she should command my respect to hold the title of first seed.

_She's got one card in hand, and three back-rows left..._

As if the very thought provoked her, A trap unveiled itself, three green-robed surgeons with white face masks marched out of the active trap **DNA Surgery.**

"**Machine Type," **My Duel-Disk chirped.

Her second to last back-row flipped into action. A spectral ghoul dove beneath the surface of the field, possessing a body from the graveyard and forcefully ripping it back to the battlefield.

A white cybernetic machine drake landed on her field.

**Cyber Dragon (**_**ATK: 2100 DEF: 1600)**_

She waved over to me, showing me a toothy grin all the while waving her last card in hand back and forth.

_You know I know that's a __**Return from the Different Dimension**__, what are you over here bluffing about?_

She reached to turn over her last face-down, sliding her one remaining card in hand into her grave as the cost putting me on alert.

With the flick of her wrist, a spell landed, a bolt of white zipped from Niomi's **Cyber Dragon** linking to her **Elemental HERO Prisma** before a chain of light shot out ensnaring my **Dark Magician of Chaos** before shackling my other four monsters in the blink of an eye.

All monsters faded to white, vaporizing to nothing but glowing balls.

Those balls rushed together compacting and forming a new beast.

A cybernetic goliath fusion with seven fierce dragon heads towered over everything that appeared on either player's field yet this match dwarfing the monsters who came before them.

White static crackled and fizzled about the air, countless watts of electric current snapped at once producing a sonic boom that knocked me off my feet and off my platform down four feet to the cold unfeeling ground.

_She fucking '__**Super-Poly**__'ed me!_

**Chimeratech Overdragon (**_**ATK: 5600 DEF: 5600)**_

The **Super Polymerization** sat on top of her grave, a horrid nauseous sinking sensation in my gut as I calculated I had precisely one out to him in my deck this game, The **Darklord Zerato** in my graveyard.

Without any draw cards or revival spells in hand, I set a monster face down and passed my turn.

I crawled back up the platform sore and achy wishing this whole ordeal could be over, but hardly one to forfeit to spare myself the conflict.

_**END PHASE.**_

_She drew._

"_**Entering Battle Phase," **_The speakers relayed.

A beam of static overloaded and cooked my face-down monster with indiscriminace.

My face down **Destiny HERO - Diamond Dude** blast into a million pieces.

"_**Main Phase 2."**_

A facedown back row was placed rapidly before the phases swapped once again.

_**End Phase.**_

I took a deep breath stilling my turbulent heart, remembering that I am the king, I am the hunter.

'_She' is MY PREY!_

I drew. The art of **Premature Burial** welcomed my eyes.

I fingered the 'Main Phase 1' button jumping into my turn ASAP.

My spell card hit the field, the activation sequence completed successfully.

A mighty fallen angel with skin darker than charcoal, clad in crimson cloth, rose tall as my newest summon.

**Darklord Zerato (**_**ATK: 2800 DEF: 2300)**_

"I use his effect to discard this, and wipe your monster zones clean."

A dark pulse shattered her boss monster leaving herself physically defenseless.

"-And I normal summon **Broww, Huntsman of Dark World**."

**Broww, Huntsman of Dark World (**_**ATK: 1400 DEF: 800)**_

I activated** 'Grapha, Dragon Lord of Dark World'**s effect to bounce **Broww **from the field to my hand to special summon itself from the graveyard.

**Grapha, Dragon Lord of Dark World (**_**ATK: 2700 DEF: 1800)**_

With the click of a button, we plummeted head first into the battle phase.

I commanded Grapha to make his attack first, the shadow lunged forward into action and with the force of a mythic brute collided with Niomi.

_-Or not._ Her facedown sprung over revealing the trap **Mirror Force**.

"**Mirror force!?** YOU'RE 'KIDDING!"

"I know you barely run spell and trap destruction, I figured I'd get away with it. Guess I was right."

In one burst, both of my monsters shattered and vacated the field, leaving it entirely empty for both of us.

"..."

My ceaseless aggression has left me overextended and defenseless…

_**End Phase.**_

My turn ended, passing the baton back to the tournament's first seed.

She drew… then set a face-down and passed.

**End Phase.**

_**Phew.**_I somehow got another turn. I guess even Chazz bricked draws in those games versus Aster. _All mortals bleed._

I drew gazing over to see what I pulled.

"A normal summon, I'll take anything at this point," I announced tossing a card on my Duel-Disk.

A fiendish warrior rose with a pristine white bastard sword in his eyes were slits of red, the murderous aura of a psychopath driven to madness by the long-since-decay of morals and reason of warmongery.

**Dark Grepher (**_**ATK: 1700 DEF: 1600)**_

"_**Entering Battle Phase."**_

"Attack!" I commanded.

My monster unleashed a hearty clean broad slash cutting Niomi's life points down to size.

(-1700LP **| Kisuke: 8000 - Niomi: 2800**)

I nodded affirming my progress, then pressed my 'End Phase' button.

_**End Phase.**_

With her next draw came her eerie crooked smile.

"**Main Phase 1."** The speaker chirped.

A card hit Niomi's Duel-Disk, the field underwent a metamorphosis into a cyber-spacial warp gate.

_**Fusion Gate**_.

"-And here comes the grand finale ladies and gentlemen, hold onto your hats!" She preened.

Her single facedown activated projecting chains on the field, seeping into the graveyard, in her deck, and hand. Everything became connected, tied by darkness and united by the void.

The card **Chain Material** resolved and hit her graveyard, the circuit having been completed by infinite amounts of fusion summons with Fusion gate, and near-limitless materials now being able to use material from her deck, hand, field, and graveyard.

Monsters started pouring out onto the field in vigor.

"I might not be able to end you with attacks this turn, but I can tortch you with as much fire as you can handle."

The pressure spiked pushing me over like a dainty twig and nearly split me like one too.

**Pair Cycroid (**_**ATK: 1600 DEF: 1200)**_

**Elemental HERO Absolute Zero** **(**_**ATK: 2500 DEF: 2000)**_

**Blaze Fenix, The Burning Bombardment Bird** **(**_**ATK: 2800 DEF: 2300)**_

(-1800LP **| Kisuke: 6200 - Niomi: 2800**)

Blaze Fenix burned me 300 damage for every card on the field, including my still active Spell Economics.

"And how about another one!"

A second copy of the frightening mystic bird hit the field torching the field in fire.

**Blaze Fenix, The Burning Bombardment Bird** **(**_**ATK: 2800 DEF: 2300)**_

(-2100LP **| Kisuke: 4100 - Niomi: 2800**)

"And another!"

**Blaze Fenix, The Burning Bombardment Bird** **(**_**ATK: 2800 DEF: 2300)**_

(-2400LP **| Kisuke: 1700 - Niomi: 2800**)

"And since I did my math just right!" Niomi bellowed before taking heavier breaths.

_Since you did your math right? You can only have 3 Blaze Fenix's!_

One of the three Fenix's vanished as material for a new beast.

A much less impressive insectoid looking steel machine took the bird's place.

**Ignition Beast Volcannon** **(**_**ATK: 2300 DEF: 1600).**_

Unfamiliar with the monster in question, I shot a questioning glance to the Princeton heiress.

"Don't look lost. I can blow up one of your monsters as well as this guy, and then you take damage equal to that monster's attack points," she relayed.

"No fucking way…" I scratched my head, not ever seeing Blaze Fenix used like this before, only ever in a gimmicky Elemental Hero Electrum loop deck.

**Dark Grepher** exploded sending holographic shrapnel at me.

(-1700LP **| Kisuke: 0 - Niomi: 2800**)

"**Winner: Contestant 1: Niomi Princeton - **_**(1-1-0) Best of three Match.**_**"**

I lost a sense of direction.

Where was left, where was right?

_This is Up… or down maybe?_

Everything blurred over and was swallowed by the black.

* * *

┬┴┬┴┤寸法の橋渡し├┬┴┬┴

I nodded awake, rolling over.

The sensation of weightlessness left me grasping at straws as my brain kicked on.

The hard solid floor caught me, my shoulder audibly popping when cushioning my fall.

Groggy with a dry throat and heavy eyelids, I blinked.

White tiles spread about 4 meters wide, and six meters long, A medical cott and several chairs filled the room, as well as two bodies.

"Woah, careful there." A soothing voice spoke.

I pushed myself up, my shoulder I landed on tweaked under the strain, but it was simple uncomfort rather than excruciating pain.

The match came rushing back all at once.

"What happened?"

Deep down I knew, but I wanted to reject the answer. The truth is humiliating.

"You passed out right after game two and lost after your 5-minute medical time out. You should have paid attention to your blood sugar. I told you to eat more at breakfast." My mom continued.

A dizzy spell returned. My stomach fluttered like I might vomit.

_Wha? Do you know how much pasta I ate a bit ago? It was that freak Niomi with her telekinetic bullshit._

"Uh… Blood sugar?" I asked.

"Yeah. You got all pale, started sweating and shaking like a leaf, and passed out. The doctor ran a few simple tests and thinks it was just low blood sugar."

I was drained, physically and mentally, so I took a seat again.

"Eat this." Yumiko pushed a graham cracker into my hand, not taking no for an answer even after I nodded my head no.

Her piercing eyes held their ground. I wanted to prevent throwing up at all costs especially in front of her but somehow was tricked into accepting against my better judgment.

I lifted the cracker to my mouth, slowly preparing myself the best I could.

_***Crunch***_

My teeth split and crushed my bite into crumbs, repeating the processes until the cracker vanished from my grasp.

Miraculously swallowing it down, a realization dawned on me.

"I still have another match! Let me go d-"

"-You've been out for an hour and a half! You missed the start and they canceled it." Yumiko relayed.

The final attack played through my head.

Dark Grepher exploded before my eyes, the perfect amount of damage to bring me to 8000 to zero using fusion burn effects during a chain material and Fusion Gate combo play… Her deck is awesome!

_I wasn't jealous in the slightest_ I told myself.

_...Okay maybe a little bit that I hadn't thought of that deck first._

"Stay right there and rest for a second mister." My mom scolded.

I nodded, accepting her demands without a word edgewise.

"How are you feeling?" Yumiko asked, tentatively sliding her hands behind her back.

Mom interrupted us, pushing a full yellow Gatorade bottle into my hand. "Drink up."

I took some sluggish slurping sips in an attempt to calm down and recover my energy.

I snagged a remote, tossed atop several stacked health and wellness magazines, and powered on the television.

"Unbelievable folks! We're not going to see another Youth-16 Jap Nationals with this kind of star power again in our lifetime! The unreal conclusion to the tournament. Kaiba the II has proved himself to be not only the champion of nationals, but won a best of one grudge match against his own father live! With such outstanding skill and talent, we must ask ourselves if he'll forego further preparation to join the pro circuit this next upcoming season. Stay tuned for highlights and more from our analysis desk."

The clicks of the tiles woke me from my reverie. The academic glasses pressed taut to her nose magnified her eyes filled with worry.

My left hand rested slack on my thigh.

In between sips Yumiko slipped her hand on top of mine, rubbing the back of my hand with her thumb.

A light of recognition sparked in my mother's eyes witnessing it all.

My mother gave me a thumbs up of approval, then winked at me for what I could only assume to approve and validate our blossoming relationship.

_HA! My mom thinks she's my wingman. Wait… she actually kind of was if I think about it. I didn't invite Yumiko along, that was all her... Was this her plan all along?_

Another ten minutes went by, a lot of progress in my physical recovery allowed me to stand and pace around without a problem anymore.

"I bet you get that pacing from my dad. He'd do the same thing all the time." My mother smiled.

"I don't know. I just can't sit still."

"Well, you're looking a lot better. If you really feel alright, I guess you could attend the finalist meeting they invited you too." The fully grown woman relayed.

"Finalist Meeting?!"

"They gave me this keycard and said if you feel up to it, use it at the elevator to come to the 20th floor."

I accepted the black card, turning it in my hand. A magnetic strip and golden chip adorned the back with some informative text on the back listing a hotline number for customer service.

As bad as I felt abandoning both of these ladies, I'd feel worse missing the opportunity to make an impression on my capable peers and rivals.

I thanked both of them and took my leave, heading to the elevators to ride up.

* * *

┬┴┬┴┤寸法の橋渡し├┬┴┬┴

The Elevator opened. I stepped out to the greeting of a short-haired, black-suited security guard with an earwig. His black hair spiked up off his head, sunglasses hid his eyes.

_This douche is blocking out the haters._

"Name?"

"Kisuke Tashiro," I responded in confidence.

I couldn't help but stare at the pattern shaved and faded into the side of his head, it kinda looked like cornrows but without the braids of course.

He turned, his hand swiped over a card scanner. A green light blinked, the door hissed under the pressure from peeling apart.

I stepped through, a long 10 meter dining table topped with an immaculate white tablecloth with over 40 chairs around it caught my eye.

More than half of the chairs were vacant, but 15 other contestants most of which I knew by now were all present.

Nearly everyone sat in a daze sifting through sleeved cards.

Above the table on the far wall hung a humongous television, which had to be in excess of 140 inches from top corner to the opposing bottom corner across.

It listed the finalist's names in the order they placed:

_Seto Kaiba_

_Niomi Princeton_

_Chloe Moto_

_Alexander Trusdale_

_Ling Phoenix_

_Leon Nara_

_Kisuke Tashiro_

_Usaku Akatsuki_

_Freya Rhodes_

_Ven Nara_

_Hiro Suzuki_

_Taichi Valentine_

_..._

_..._

_..._

_Viktor Hitoshima_

_Niomi ended in 2nd place? Only the loss to Kiaba who went undefeated._

I approached the group, stalling behind a bald giant whose ass spilled over on both sides of his chair.

"What's going on?"

"Hm? _**LOOK!**_" Steve shouted, pushing the sleeved cards into my hand.

I ruffled through some cards, before a single card made me stop in my tracks.

"You see this?! How do you explain this?"

"-No fucking way..." Slipped out of my mouth.

A card art I'd never seen waved past my eye cuffed in Steve's palm.

"I don't know either, but hey, I ain't complaining!" He said, snatching his deck back. "My custom deck creation for the gauntlet. I can't wait to be able to use these bad boys! How can I not have a bond with these."

"Contestant 126?"

I spun around, meeting a young adult holding out a box while nearly prostrated, his standing bow as low and respectful as possible.

_Does that mean? My custom Elysian Avatars?!_

Unable to hide my excitement, I pulled my newly awarded deck, structure deck, or whatever is out of the box, tearing the plastic wrapping.

Glancing down to the first card of the deck, I gasped of shock.

The blue ritual card **'Nekroz of Trishula' **welcomed my unexpectant eyes.

Steve leered over my shoulder.

"What the fuck? Nekroz?"

I couldn't believe my eyes either.

_If Steve got his custom deck, where is mine?_

I thumbed through my cards, impressed by how competitive it was with zero alterations.

_With some alterations, there's only reason why this deck wouldn't be considered tier zero, and that's because the popularity of extra-deck monsters were much lower here than my reality, where synchros and XYZ monsters reigned._

Something tapped my shoulder. "Excuse me."

"Hmm?" I hummed turning to see a new face.

He was roughly 6 foot, but towered over me while I sat. Long black box braids hung from his head, his Onyx black eyes sparkled like precious gemstones.

I stepped to my feet extending my hand.

"Kisuke Tashiro, nice to meet you. You are…?"

He took a hold of my hand with a firm grasp. It was neither oppressive nor weak, a careful blend of awareness and strength exuded from the young male.

"I'm Ven Nara. This was your first time at nationals right?"

"Hm? Uh, yeah."

His braids knocked about, the beads on each end clicked and clacked with each other.

"That's insane! It's not often a no-name can show up and top an event. You placed better than me and this is my 4th time, but that probably had to do with how unprepared everyone was for your deck. Did you come up with that all by yourself or did you join an association?"

"Did you just call me a no-name? Boy I'm on the come up, you better show some respect."

I was met by thick, authentic confusion as he struggled to formulate a response.

"Well… I mean you WERE a no-name. Sorry for the misunderstanding," He finally said.

My tongue clicked in my mouth but at this point I really didn't have room to argue.

"So...An association?" I asked hoping for him to give an elaboration.

"-Yeah, yeah. You know, like a clan that'll hook you up so you can make them look good and shine on the stage."

"Na, I'm on my own brother. I got here by putting in the hours and hours of work and assembling a deck with the resources I went out and got myself. I go out and lay the bricks for my future."

"Leon! He said he's solo. We should invite him." The kid shouted off to the side pointing his finger over to me furiously.

The attention of more than half of the table changed over to our direction, the gazes of many locked on us.

A nearly identical person to Ven narrowed his eyes at me.

"Who says he'd be a good fit for us?"

I was confused, leaning over to whisper to Steve. "Did he ask you to join?"

"What do you mean? I told you I'm already picked up by the Beast-style dojo. Did you forget? I think you're the only person here who doesn't have a sponsor."

The hunger in the eyes staring at me made sense now. I won a custom deck with awesome power, and am a free agent. Of Course, they'd want me to join their organization because I'm valuable.

"Stop acting like a hardass. If we can't even recruit this guy, who the heck CAN we recruit?" Ven busted out.

"If he wants to join how about he shows me what he's got with that new deck of his."

Two younger looking kids walked over, both of them very plain in appearance. Oriental features, short buzzed black hair, and shorter than me by several inches.

"You can join our clan. My dad is in the pro leagues and he's our champion. We'll give you seat 5 right off the bat, right under me."

"Yeah? Where did you rank up there?" I pointed to the board.

His finger hovered over #13, the name is completely unfamiliar.

My interest disappeared at that moment.

"I'm good. I'm thinking about starting my own thing. I just can't see myself following someone else when I could just start my own."

The chatter that hung in the air died out.

A seat schooched back, the legs moaned against the floor, a pair of feet flew out. A slim body wrapped in a blazer landed on her toes gracefully. Her midnight black hair bounced and landed in place.

"I can hardly listen to your mouth. You think you know better than everyone else that came before you? Even after our little wake up call you think you can climb alone. _**Psht - You're delusional.**_"

Out of the corner of my eye, I caught Viktor's contorted face bunched up in a sour expression staring at Niomi.

"I took one win off you in one try, that's more than Viktor's ever got. Imagine if I had a few more chances."

"You got lucky I didn't see you as a threat from the beginning."

"Oh, but I am a threat. Aren't I?"

A faint smile appeared on her lips as her brow dipped.

"I suppose you are, to most of the people in this room maybe." Her grin widened.

My heartbeat hastened.

"You think cuz your daddy is a former world champ that means you're better than the rest of us. But-"

"What? My daddy is the prime minister. Uncle Chazz isn't my dad. You're clueless."

A round of laughter spurted out around me, a tinge of embarrassment holding me back until it died down.

"Niomi, leave my boy Ed alone. He overcame a lot of adversity to get this far. I'm impressed."

A boy stood up, his cyan blue hair partitioned in three layers completely spitting on the concept of gravity. His blue eyes positioned directly beneath the bangs of the layer closest to his face.

If I've learned anything from Yu-gi-Oh, it's that normally the crazier the hair, the more status the duelist ends up having, and I already knew exactly who this bloke was.

Alexander Trusdale, head disciple of the Cyber Art Dojo.

"Awwwww! Did papa Syrus ask you to recruit him for the Dojo? That's adorable!"

An elbow was tossed into my gut, the stank eye of Steve looming over me as I gasped for air.

"Go anywhere but the Cyber Dojo. If ynot, I'll have no mercy on your mother."

"Chill! I don't want to join any of your clans. Okay? I just want to focus on my journey of improvement."

Seto Kiaba pushed myself out of his seat at the head of the table.

"Seto told me that all of you are offered free tuition at his Central Duel Academy, just contact the finance department and it will get handled." He relayed out taking steps toward the exit. "That's all."

Chloe leapt out of her chair chasing after Kiaba to the door.

"Wait up!"

"I don't need a second rate escort Chloe."

"Don't act smug and pretend like we're not friends because you _finally_ beat Niomi you asshole." Chloe shouted after him pouting.

Both of them vanished out the door, leaving the fourteen of us behind.

* * *

┬┴┬┴┤寸法の橋渡し├┬┴┬┴

A week later I was leaned over a fan in my room, tossing my hair around trying to cool down.

Stripping my shirt off, I used it to towel the sweat of my face and chest, before leaning back and launching it across the room.

"With a second left on the clock…"

My shot fell into the laundry basket with laser precision.

"... AND THE THREE IS GOOD! Kisuke from a different zip code on that one. Ice in the veins!"

I snickered, but it came out robotic having turned back into the mounted fan before me.

My phone was in my grasp, Yumiko's contact page pulled up.

I didn't usually have to try this hard. I just say whatever and it works, but I'm getting in my head and now it's blank.

The brain was all hazy and fatigued from my last run.

_**Ding!**_

An alert popped on over my screen, New Message: This is Dean of Admission of Central Duel Academy and we have approved your scholarship and financial aid. Please cont…"

My heart slammed against my ribcage, elation rising.

I gripped my hand into a fist and punched into the air.

The rush of emotions humbled me. Basking in my victory, I tightened the grip on my deck box with my one of a kind prize deck.

_My victory of marketing myself went over even better than expected,_ I thought, looking down to my phone while swapping between apps to Instagram.

It took a second to connect before my stats refreshed.

_**26,017 Followers.**_

"We've come a long way since we arrived…" I mumbled. _That much is certain._

The nostalgia of being flung around and off my Duel platform like a ragdoll mid-match left a fire burning in my belly, but worse was the idea that I didn't even have the strength to continue after a single game of Niomi trying.

_What are you all happy about? Hm? Why am I thinking lax like this and taking a sigh of relief? When those gates open for you, you can't slow down and smell the roses. There's still work to do._

"-But we haven't come far enough yet."

I turned back to my computer monitor.

All the card activation timings of newly released cards added to the database were visible. My eyes crossed over unable to focus.

"Urghh…" I grunted, frustrated with my inability to study and learn.

The image of Yumiko crept into my mind.

_My instinct is legit sabotaging me, acting up to talk over my ego. _

I knew what I needed to do, but it was like anything and everything else appealed more.

_A rose-tinted lens distracted me from what I determined was important, but hey, maybe I'll just get some stuff out of my system so I can focus… Not the worst idea. All work and no play makes Ki a dull man._

"Fuck it."

My thumb bumped the Call button on-screen, then I hoisted my phone up to my ear.

_**Ring~ Ring~ Ring~ Ring~**_

"_**Hello?"**_

"Aye, It's your boy. You're free later tonight, right?"

"_**Uh, yeah? Why, what's up."**_

"_For sure, then I'm gonna take you out tonight. I'll catch you at your house at… say 7pm. That's good with you?"_

"_**Okay. umm, so this is like… like a date, hmm?"**_

"_I'm not hearing a no. Call it whatever you want, but dress casual, oh yeah, and wear some sneakers, tennis shoes, or something you can move around in at least."_

"_**I'll be ready. **__~Hey!_ _Can I get some service over here?__** … Have to go, Talk to you later!"**_

The call ended, and abruptly at that, but all in all it went pretty smooth.

I leaned over, taking a quick gander at the **Red-Eyes Darkness Metal Dragon **ripped clean in half and doctored together with scotch tape.

"Not only would you not take your damn card back, but you ripped it so it's value is cut by like 2/3rds. Nice work you inbred twat."

Staggering up, I yanked my towel off the back of my door and went toward the shower.

_If everything goes well tonight I guess I'll need to sell all my spare cards, especially since I don't need them anymore now that I got these Nekroz._

* * *

┬┴┬┴┤寸法の橋渡し├┬┴┬┴

I strutted out of a department store into the wide-open naturally lit mall interior.

A cluster of girls stood out to me, probably high school-aged if I had to guess, I figured they'd do fine as an extra set of opinions.

The opportunity was here and now, so I changed paths over to them with zero regards.

I approached, the central most girl of the group paused talking to narrow her eyes at me while I finished walking up.

_She looks like the Alpha of this lot._

"Yo. saw you girls and thought you looked like you have decent taste. This won't even take a minute."

The Alpha's waistline caught my eye, but I pushed that out of mind before it could trip me up.

"We're not interested in you loser. Haha!" The pack leader taunted.

The girls around her broke out into laughter mirroring her, their illusion of power filling their faces with contempt for me.

"I didn't walk all this way over to get judged and mocked by some dolled up schmuck." I said, giving her the stink eye and grabbing my nose. "_Oh my God! This loser is STILL talking to me!? They usually leave by now..._" I said in the most nasally voice I could. "You know what your problem is?"

I pointed my finger right in her face.

"My problem?!" She swatted it aside,the edges of her lips curled down displaying her lack of control over her emotions. "I didn't have any problems 'till you came over here and bothered us. Learn your place."

_You already lost bitch._

"You're so entitled you think my time means fucking nothing. You _kinda_ cute, so I know a lot of weak-minded simps still bend over backwards for you, and now you're delusional and expect that for anyone you meet. I bet you even treat your friends like shit. You know the worst part of it? You are _wayyy_ more annoying than you are cute, AND IT ISN'T WORTH IT! Your greatest achievement so far is doing nothing and guys still want to fuck you, Prove me wrong."

Startled gasps sounded from several of the girls, stealing looks at the morphing and enraged queen I called out. The satisfaction and looks of adoration I got only reaffirmed my voiced suspicions.

A bunch of members from her clique started giggling, the exposed girl turning flush red in the face.

"YEAH! Even your _**FRIENDS**_ don't like you, look at them. They were waiting for you to trip up just to laugh at your goofy ass. Don't look at them like they are betraying you by not speaking up, they don't want to say anything 'cuz you're not _**FRIENDLY**_. You don't stand up for them, do you? We ain't even trying to talk to you no more. Right ladies?" I waved her off like she was headed out.

The girls friends froze up, looking to each other for guidance all while saying nothing.

"Eeeeuurrrggg! Emilia." She huffed before snapping her hand and grabbing a girl hovering at the outside of their circle, stomping over to the bathrooms pulling the poor girl along by force.

"See you!" I shouted after her, still waving.

She flicked her head forward,her hair swaying and falling in line behind her. She refused to glance back the whole way to the restroom entrance which I found hilarious.

"You really put her in her place. Elise has been such a stuck up bitch lately, she needed that!" A red-head gawked.

"Yeah. She's so self-centered she only thinks about herself." Another girl spoke up.

"Hey now. You ain't much better shit talking your girl behind her back like that, so I don't even want to hear it."

A tug of my shirt from the back got me to crane my neck over and look over my shoulder to catch a red-head eyeballing me.

"You're a fuckboi, aren't you?" The breath of her words left the hair on my neck standing on end.

"You want me to be, don't you?" I asked.

"I like your hair." the smell of strawberries wafted out from behind me, a hand diving into my hair, twisting it about, not a hint of timidness or shame on her face, only a mischievous grin.

I gave her a little nudge, creating some separation between us as I looked back to the rest of the group.

"Ladies, ladies. Hold up. On god I came over here because like I said, you all look like you got some decent taste, right? So I wanted to hear your opinion on the two different colognes I was lookin' at."

They circled around me, skin and fabrics brushing against skin.

I held out my wrists that each got a spritz.

They swarmed me like locusts. In zero time flat five women were fighting over smelling my wrists.

My gut tightened up, I was on cloud nine basking in all this feminine attention.

_I can't lie, it's nice to feel special._

"This right one is like… I don't know. Smells like outside and oranges.. Or something." The tip of her nose bumped my wrist.

"O-M-G! Smell this one, its ocean-y or something. It makes me think of a waterfall."

"Hm? *sniff sniff* Yeah, I think I like that one better too. It's crisp and sweet. *sniff sniff* I'm totally getting my mom to buy this for my boyfriend's birthday. What is this again?"

"Uhh… That one is Acqua Di Gio, the other one is some Gucci."

The girls start mumbling in a weak consensus.

"Acqua Di Gio for sure."

"Mhmm." Several agreed.

"I don't know. This one is something else, it's driving me crazy."

"Not any extra boy-crazy than you already were. Just Ignore her, she gets worked up easy."

"Not true!" She garbled before glancing back to me. "Are you getting all fresh for someone in particular?" Her hands fell on my shoulders.

"Yeah. I'm taking my girl out later and figured I could use some extra opinions."

she leaned into me, twin fleshy peaks pressing into my back.

"Aww, that doesn't sound like a lot of fun for a fuckboi."

"My girl is worth at minimum ten of you. Sorry, it ain't even a contest to me."

"She doesn't have to know."

"I bet you're the type that if I did actually step out you'd find and hound my girl on social media with delusions that if you broke us up _THEN_ you'd have a chance. Too bad for you, I'm wise. Not just no, hell no." I finished tapping my temple repetitively to grind in my point.

"I would not, I promise! Yui, tell him how good I am at keeping secrets."

"He doesn't want it Sakura, give up already." Her friend replied back

"I think I feel abs." Sakura tried weaseling around the subject.

"Nah bitch, that's my ribs," I said full of sincerity.

Her mouth fell open for a second before she burst into laughter.

"You're soo funny!"

"You're _soo thirsty_..."

The redheaded Sakura feigned betrayal, preying on her other friends to wing woman for her, but all of them shrugging her off in the end.

Sakura slipped behind one of her girlfriends sifting through a purse dangling from her friend's shoulder.

"What are you doing in there?!"

"Borrowing this!" She just grinned, then pulled out a hot pink sticky note pad and a pen, before quickly starting to scribble away at it.

"What is she doing?" One of her friends whispered.

"I don't know, you know how desperate she gets sometimes..." Another soprano voice replied back.

She crept back, attempting to sneak up behind me, but I side-stepped her as she went to reach for my shirt.

"Erk- Open your hand!" She demanded.

Unsure of what the hell was going on, I complied to her amusement. She let out a girlish giggle before coyly dropping a pink sticky note folded in half into my open palm.

She lowers her head, her eyes still looking up to me, before flicking her hand into a phone sign and biting into her lip.

"Girl, you are trouble, I know what it looks like," I said twisting apart the paper to see a phone number transcribed on it.

"Doesn't a bad boy need a bad girl though?"

"My girl _is bad_. I promise."

"Well, I like to hear you talk. Sometime you should hit me on my cell phone. If your girl is a bad girl, I'll be your badder girl."

Her head is as thick as cement. I guarantee if a man was coming on as strong as this girl she'd already called 911.

"You better watch out for her."

"No need, she isn't even on my radar."

The more I talked, and the more they felt me out, the more submissive signals kept getting thrown my way.

"Am I?" She asked while making micro-adjustments to her hair, pushing it out of her eyes and playing with it in her fingers. "-on your radar I mean."

"Don't misunderstand. I wanted your opinions on the cologne, I don't care about anything else."

"Oh...well I liked the right one best." She pointed to my left hand, a hint of disappointment hanging off her pouty lips.

"That's _his_ left you airhead, but yeah, the Acqua Di Gio is my favorite too."

Unanimous nods of approval besides the one who was still raking her hands around my shoulders left me feeling way more confident in my selection.

"Alright, thanks for the help. Have a good one ladies."

* * *

┬┴┬┴┤寸法の橋渡し├┬┴┬┴

All preparations were done.

My bicycle pulled into the apartment complex parking lot. I cruised around a bit lost, hoping that I'd get lucky so I didn't have to look goofy asking where she lived when I _should_ know full well.

My spokes clicked as my speed eased down. From atop a balcony I spotted her.

Her brown hair caught the sunlight just right turning it a golden hue.

She flew down the stairs in an ungraceful haste, meeting me as I pulled up.

"Hi," She waved. "Can we skip everything and go, my parents are arguing again."

"No problem." I said, flashing her a smile. "Hop on my pegs and hold on tight."

My legs pumped sending the bike forward, whipping it in a half circle and skirting out of the lot.

"So, you never told me where we're going."

"Find some food, hit the art gallery's new display, and I got a surprise for later, but nothing you can do will get me to spoil it for you."

"I'm sure I could get you to tell me."

"-Maybe in your dreams. I make up my mind, no one else."

There's a certain comfort rolling around town with a lady's arms snug around you, but there were accompanied costs as well.

I grit my teeth, my calves and hamstrings were on fire. I lamented that my physique isn't even close to ideal, but it's something I'd work out over time.

A food cart captured my attention, especially when realizing what they were selling.

"Teriyaki chicken, Sesame chicken, BBQ pork cutlets, Get your shish kabobs here. Fill your stomach on the low at _Kabob Palace_." A preteen boy shouted out while spinning and flaunting a big red arrow sign."

I pulled on the handbrakes, grinding to a halt.

"I'm getting some. Want any?"

"Ah, Yes."

"Kay, what do you want?"

"Whatever you want."

I stepped over my seat, and after a small wait, I was back, two sticks skewering an absurd amount of meat held in each hand.

I leaned forward, twisting my pinky so that the closest kabob got nearer as I extended my arm out to her.

"I didn't think you'd get me two. I'm not really that hungry.""

"Psht, You really _**assuming**_. These three are for _ME_. You lucky I'm giving you one." I held up a single finger to reinforce my point.

"WOW… You're _soooooo_ _considerate_ and _thoughtful_."

"You're damn right. These other girls wouldn't get a crumb from me, expectin' they can bat their eyes and get me to open my wallet and lose my self-respect. Yeah - Consider yourself lucky."

"I think your big friend is a bad influence on you, you didn't used to be this stingy."

Her eyes grew big and glassy, as if telegraphing her concern.

_I'm not going to let her shit talk my friends like this, I'll punish her one of the only ways it will get through to her._

"..." I ignored her and leaned against the block retaining wall while enjoying my meat.

"What, nothing? You're not even going to bother to deny it?" She tried again,

"Steve? Why I don't casually spend money on girls has nothing to do with him. I see things for how they are. Chivalry is dead, and women killed it, so don't look to me to complain. I'd prefer to dote on you but it just doesn't work like that."

"What do you mean 'It just doesn't work like that? -That's complete crap. How could women have killed chivalry?"

"If you act chivalrous, you're being a nice guy. Girls don't fall for nice guys because they are nice guys. If you start spending money on them, you set the expectation your going to spend money on them, and the relationship won't be authentic. If you can get someone's attention and energy without having to get physical or start a relationship, why would you ever want it unless some competition shows up and lights a fire under your ass? I mean, Isn't that what happened to you? You realized I had my pick of girls and you started to panic."

I hate to admit it, and when I say that I mean it because I fucking hate my dad, but he was always right about one thing.

"It's like my dad always said: _'If you act like a bitch, you'll get treated like a bitch. I promise.'_"

"I don't see you as a bitch and I wouldn't even if - wait your dad said that? He treats your mom like a princess! Have you even seen _my dad_? What are you talking about?!"

"Err.. I meant my daddy Kobe Bryant, my favorite basketball player." I dodged the insinuation,

"Well I don't think that way, so stop being insecure and just shower me with your affection."

"Nananana. You see, If you didn't see me as a bitch and took me seriously, you would've been hitting me up all this time I've been spending working on myself and not just waiting by the finish line to pick winners."

"Oh my god, is that what you think of me?"

"Who's to say, it's a possibility."

"Maybe I was just busy and caught up in life. Did you think of that?"

"Or maybe, what you REALLY liked was seeing me assert myself, work towards what I want, and speak my mind. Did that strike a chord in you so now you can't get me out of your head? Or were you _actually_ waiting at the finish line getting ready to pick a winner?"

She blushed before pushing my head away, off to the side. "You're overthinking this! Not all girls are devious."

"Tell me you hate it when I'm being real and actively working to get what I want. Prove me wrong."

"So… What you're saying is… this is who you really are?" She asked.

"Yup. This is me, and unapologetic. I might've been too afraid of what people thought before, and always filtered myself. Tried to be nice so that everyone would like me, but no more. I realized that acting like that, you're only ever going to find lukewarm people who kinda like you, but then again don't even know you. No more. If I'm real, the people who like me really like me, and the people who don't, I pay those people no mind, because faking it for them isn't worth my time."

"No… Your right. Your transformation is messing with my head. I guess I do like seeing you assert yourself and take charge… I never really thought of it before."

"Hmm? No, what?" I asked, holding my hand up to my ear for some showmanship. "What was that last part?"

"Mmmmmm!" She hummed. "I can't say I hate it when you're being you. If this is who you really are… then I'm glad to finally meet you. Took you long enough."

"Takes a while to find yourself, you know? Obviously I'm still learning, but I'm out here doing it better than 99% of people our age, so I mean, that's something..."

We made our way over to the art gallery. I locked my bike down upfront on a rack before hopping up the steps two at a time.

Yumiko struggled to maintain my pace, so I toned down the climb, and we entered the building after reaching the top.

"We haven't been here in forever. What made you want to come?"

"I just felt like it." I dodged, unwilling to admit it was for her benefit.

We meandered around for a bit before splitting up from the tour group and ending up at the display saved for last, the newest attraction.

"Wow...They say it was recovered from a sunk world war 2 submarine. It almost spent 70 years at the bottom of the ocean."

"I know. Recovering old-lost treasures is inspiring."

".Speaking of old-lost treasures… You never call me '_Yumi'_ anymore. What did you suddenly grow out of it?" She pouted.

"I've… felt distant. I can tell people don't recognize me when they see me like they don't know who I am, so I'm not going to assume people still know me."

"Even distant from me?"

"Don't look at me like you're something special. You still eat, sleep, and shit like the rest of us."

"You don't have to be so vulgar… but I know what you mean. Like, I'm still adjusting. Who am I to call that on you."

"Look at me." I poked my hand out, she let it approach, even leaned into my touch. "Do you want me to call you Yumi again?"

Her response came instantaneously. "Yes." Her fervent nod followed, and I couldn't hold back my grin. I couldn't lie, I was eating all this up.

"Yumi, you are beautiful."

"Ooo." Her eyes bulged big, sparkling like fireworks. "I'm… alright I guess."

I looked her up and down, she was glowing under my praise, a huge smile lingering on her lips.

_She legitimately doesn't know she's pretty. Okay, if her ego isn't all built up, then it can afford to hear a few compliments_.

"Yumi, you're not listening. I said _you are beautiful."_

She resorted to sheepish twiddling of her thumbs, her gaze fell to the floor. Her chest rose and fell like once flourishing but now broken empires, fast.

I waited, waited for her to compose herself.

Her eyes found mine when she peered back, she let out a nervous laugh, anything to break the tension built up in her.

"Other people are prettier. I see how you look at them sometimes..."

"Don't compare yourself to anyone else. So what if I'm impressed by other girls' builds, that doesn't take away the work you put in to look good. There's a pride you can hold in that, and a power because most people don't reach their limits. I see you putting work in out here and getting better, and I'd take that anyday of the week than some bimbo that rides on her good looks."

"I don't put that much work in…"

I clapped my hands together holding a confident grin.

"There you go. Play it up. I love it. Hit me with another."

Her hands crumpled her skirt as she took a deep breath.

"Erm... Imagine if I tried a little harder, there's no way you could keep your hands off..."

_Well, her pillow talk could use a few level ups..._

"Baby, that ass is already magnetic, it's trying to pull my hands over right now. It turns me on when you talk about putting in more work."

She broke into a snort, before blushing red and growing quiet.

"I carried boxes around all shift today, my legs are like jello now." She turned around and twerked her rear

"Mhmm, and if you add some squats to the mix that ass is getting PHAT forsure." I leaned forward giving her butt a playful slap.

-And just like that her mood switched gears in the blink of an eye.

She spun around, her face contorted "...You just want to get in my pants, don't you?"

"Not unless that's all you got."

"You're just saying that! You're not even being subtle."

_Playing hot and cold now? They can't help but to test us, and the key to passing the tests is to maintain a masculine, high value framework. If she can get us to respond emotionally, or break from our established beliefs, we're finished. _

A girl doesn't suddenly go cold because she wants you to kiss her ass and makeup, she goes cold to make sure you can defy her, that you can stand in the face of conflict without acting like a pussy. Every time you submit or emotionally react to her bullshit, she'll lose respect for you.

"Because I know deep down, that's exactly what you want to hear, I keep it real and let you make your own decisions, but I give your options. I'm 5 steps ahead of you at all time's and you'll never catch up, but if you chase me i'll make it fun."

"I'm afraid if I give you what you want you'll get bored."

_How ironic, at least she understands how ALL men who fall for someone feel._

"You are not understanding what I'm trying to tell you. Your pussy holds no power over me. I know I'm _the prize_." I said beating my chest.

"What does that even mean_ 'You're the prize?_'"

"Explaining this in a way you can understand is going to be tricky, let me think for a second."

"Are you trying to say I'm dumb?"

"Shhh!" I hushed her. "Okay… so let's take a moment and just think about the Monarchy system right quick."

"Hmm?" She replied unamused.

"A king finds a girl, maybe with no pedigree, but he marries that woman. She goes from whatever she used to be, into the Queen. Just by marrying the king a woman is elevated to one of the highest positions a female can have."

"What does that have to do with anything?"

"Hush girl, I'm getting to my point. So a King turns a girl into a Queen regardless of her prior status, right? Let me ask you, What do you think happens when a Queen marries some guy?"

"They… rule equally?"

"No. That man becomes the Queen's husband, like a side-kick to her, we don't get raised up, and worse yet she'll probably work her ass off to strip him of his masculinity to the point she loses what she liked about him in the first place. That's why I can't put you above me no matter how much I care, because if you ever feel better than me, all your attraction goes out the window."

"Yeah? How is that different from how girls are seen as guy's side-kick in a traditional relationship? Like a doormat, you can grind your boots against. You're not going to turn me on acting like my dad."

"Because the man leads. Women are more emotional by nature, right? Have a hard time committing to decisions, and prone to boredom. If the girl has a man's best interest in mind, when he's happy, she will feed off his happiness and become happy too."

"You realize how sexist that sounds, You're basically saying: '_Girls can't be happy without guys_.'"

"You're putting words in my mouth. Women can be happy without a man, but it's much more temporary. Your genetic code makes it nearly impossible to keep you satisfied long-term, it'll fight you for trying to forsake nature. Part of me thinks this goes all the way back to Adam and Eve. That plus childbirth could be the punishment god handed down to Eve, but who really knows. I'm kinda talking out of my ass at this point. All I'm trying to say is that if you pick a good, high-value guy and you're loyal to him, you're probably going to be in a better spot than without him."

"I'm starting to wonder if I might really have to worry about other girls..."

I squeezed her hand, the heat of her stare got heavier.

"Listen, I was hit on earlier today by a pretty thing and it didn't phase me. She was out here Trying too. I value one thing over anything else, Loyalty. Don't you ever forget that."

"Loyalty, huh? Aketo said you stole his card, Is that true?"

I thought back to the torn card, to the broken thumb, to the sucker punch, to the demeaning little comments.

"Fuck Aketo. I stuck that card in his face and he wouldn't take it back. Worse he ripped it in half and threw it to the ground just to spite me. He's the biggest reason for my changes, he thinks friendship is unconditional and can treat me like shit for the rest of his life. _Don't know what Kisuke saw in that guy_."

Yumi perked up, her back straightening out.

"This game? I got one. What do you think Yumi see's in KiKi?"

Her pearly smile warmed my heart.

_KiKi?_

"The man of your dreams?" I struck a cheesy grin.

She shoved me over, a bit harder than I was expecting, but I rolled with it like it was nothing.

"You wish… We don't need your confidence _any_ higher than it already is."

I leaned in, the breath of my words on her ear. "So I guess that makes me one of those thug's your mama warned you about?"

"You're... not a thug!" She busted out laughing, a hysterical tear rolled down her cheek as her eyes pinched together. "I never know what to expect now. Whenever I think I've got you figured out, but it's like I'm always wrong."

"I can be whatever you want if I feel like it. You Like a little danger to go with that mystery?"

"I think so. It makes my heart race."

"-And gets your panty's wet."

Her face turned red. I could tell it was a mix of embarrassment, paired with lewd energy intertwined.

"And… maybe that too."

"Remember when you said what's your point? I'm going to be straight up with you. I'm a king, I'm not the Queen's husband, understand?"

"I'm okay with you being a king."

"I'm going to be a king, either way, the question at hand was always whether or not I want to be _YOUR_ king."

She walked away, turning her back on me, taking several steps away without a word.

"Do you really think like that?" Her faint voice squeaked.

"I have to. How can I elevate my surroundings if I habitually neglect myself? Doesn't make sense, does it?"

She spun around, making up all the ground she retreated in half the time.

"I believe in your vision, and I want to see it play out. I'm your girl right, so that means I'm your queen, right?"

I tapped the tip of her nose and she flinched.

"Baby, I'm not going to lie, you don't deserve the title yet, but hold on a second, you look like you want to strangle me. Like I said, you don't deserve the title, but I'd be lying if I said I wasn't down to invest in you, alright?"

"..."

"Let me get to my point. I'm promoting you from my girl, to my queen. What I expect from my queen are two simple things. [1.] You are looking out for my self-interest, I will never neglect my queen. [2.] Is unwavering loyalty. My queen gets nothing less from me, so I expect the same.

Loyalty to me is dedication. We need to be team players to make me better, and we have to be honest. All that matters to me."

She walked up behind me, raking her hands up my back and throwing her arms around me.

"Deep down, you're still a bit of a romantic, aren't you."

"As much as you'll let me get away with."

"What? I'd let you get away with way more."

"Maybe today, maybe tomorrow, but If you got it all day everyday you'd get bored of it. Too much of a good thing is a bad thing and all that noise."

"Whatever… Those expectations are reasonable. I can do them."

"Always remember. I put you up here, and if you forget those simple priorities, I'll demote you in a heartbeat."

"That's the coldest thing you've ever said to me!"

"It has to be like that. If we don't lay out our boundaries, we're going to piss each other off and ruin a good thing."

"You're an Indian giver! You just said you'd yank my queenship like that whenever you feel like it? I'm sorry, but thats fucked up."

"Queenship comes with responsibility. You want to be the king's queen or mistress? The choice is on you. I'll be happy with either."

"Wait! I never said I didn't want the responsibility, I was just pointing out how fucked up that is."

"That's not a real answer, at least not one of the choices I presented to you. Do you want to be the Queen - or the Mistress?"

"What happens to the mistress when a queen comes along?"

"She loses her spot. The mistress position is temporary. The mistress is at the convenience of the king, but don't worry, you're king is a benevolent man and wants to see his people happy and flourishing."

"You've got an answer to everything, don't you? I can't even comprehend how much you've changed over this summer."

"It's like a puzzle, when you're near the end and you can visualize where the pieces go, you can finish it so fast. The difference between a solved puzzle and an open one is night and day change."

"Your absolutely right. I'm being pathetic, a real queen would step up in a moment like this. Of Course I want to be your Queen."

I took her hand, Elevating it with mine far above our heads into the air.

"Queen Yumi, not everything will be easy, but I will always make it worth it."

"I know. I believe in you."

* * *

┬┴┬┴┤寸法の橋渡し├┬┴┬┴

"I stashed some stuff around here... somewhere..."

"What are we doing out here? It's kinda sketchy after dark."

"I already told you. It's a surprise."

Fumbling around in the bush, I took a step back disheartened by my failure to find the bag.

_Did someone find it and steal it? Unlucky.._.

Pacing around, I noticed another bush, further down, a lingering doubt popped into my head, doubt as to which bush I really tossed it into.

Coming up on the bush, A black shiny film caught the light of the street lamp.

"Bingo"

I bent over, dragging the garbage bag out of the bush, metallic clinks and clonks played like chimes.

"What is this?"

"I have a little bit of experience in some arts as well. I figured you'd like to try a piece together."

I pulled out several cans of spray paint from the garbage bag while projecting a sly smile, or at least my most sly smile I've practiced in the mirror.

"Art, Huh? Ooooooooooo defacing public property? What would your mom say you naughty boy?"

"Nothing, cuz she's not going to find out. I mean you're not gunna tell her."

"Maybe your right." She brought a finger up to her lips, adopting a bit of a ditzy expression.

"No- maybe you're right. This is FAR too reckless. Think about all the people that die every year at the hands of graffiti-"

My sentence was interrupted by a pair of moist lips.

"You're not the type of person to let me talk you out of it so easily."

I grinned, loving her perspective on the topic. "Now you're catching on."

We made out for a bit, and when we finally pulled apart, she nuzzled her head into my neck.

"What do you want to paint?" Her fingernails dragged along my arm playfully.

"I was thinking... We do a crown like half up the wall, right? Then we do each other's codenames and tie it in with a simple graphical design."

"Huh, codenames?"

"King Kiki + Queen Yumi."

"Eeeeeee!" She erupted into a clapping fit. "This is going to be soo much fun!"

"I'm glad you like it." I grinned.

"So basically how graffiti works is every line a letter or character has in it, you turn it into a box, and you can warp and reshape their route, but they have to connect at the vertices."

"Okay, what do you mean by a box?"

"You realize spray paint comes out with decent width right? So you gotta make use of the spread of control to give it depth; you give each line extra dimensions, turning it into a box."

She gave a few timid nods of her head timid to let me know to keep going.

"Think of letters like O, P, Q, anything with negative space surrounded by a box? you're looking at me like I'm crazy. It's the area that is blank that's surrounded and enclosed. That's called a counter. Counters are a little tricky, I'll show you a trick later for it."

"I'm still confused, but probably less now."

"You know how in basketball there's a lay up, a dunk, a jump shot, a hook."

"No...?"

"Fuck, okay, let's see... well, you're an artist. So you know about vanishing points, and crosshatching, and shading? How that stuff is the building blocks to make a picture? Yeah - it's like that. These are tools to help you achieve your vision."

"If you're getting all caught up trying to juggle everything at once, you can do a test over here," I pointed over and made a circular motion with my finger. "The other side, optimally we put the finished product on this side so all the ball players can see it.

"So yeah, that's the main stuff. Boxes, vertices, and counters, oh how coordinated do you think you are?

"Not... not at all."

"Okay, the easiest way to hold the can for you is like this, and either use one or two fingers on the cap. I use one but at the end of the day it's preference."

"Okay... like this?"

"Yeah, now more control stuff. The less coordinated you are, the more important your stance will be. So pay attention. Spread your legs."

"You'd like that wouldn't you."

"Why do you think I said it?" I hooked my foot behind hers, and dragged her foot out changing her center of gravity. "A wide stance is key to stability, and especially for a beginner, I recommend you work mainly directly in front if you don't lean left or right. Also remember If you get too close to your canvas, it's going to drip, and if you get too far away, your spread will be too far."

She giggled like a loon before responding with, "I'm going to be so bad at this…"

"Don't even sweat. You'll be fine, and even if you fuck up, so what? Nothing matters. We can start over somewhere else in the worst case scenario."

_**Ding.**_

Her gaze moved to her pocket, but didn't make a move to check her phone.

"Okay... can I see you do just a smidge before I try?"

_Oooo, she doesn't give a fuck about who texted her, all she cares about right now is me, and I plan to keep it like that._

"Sure... I don't have a sketch or anything which would have helped, but I didn't want to lock us into a single piece. Let me make all the vertical lines for this word at once."

I stretched out from my center of gravity a bit too far, forcing myself to cock the can at an awkward angle and lean.

"You said not to lean, you're leaning!"

I snapped at her with my fingers. "Do as I say, not as I do. I've got practice. Gotta get the fundamentals down before trying to break the rules. I'm out of your league."

She playfully shoved me. "How's this going to help me figure this out of your just showing off?"

_**Ding.**_

"You've been dodging text's all night. Do you want to get that? I mean I don't care."

"No. I should definitely ignore it."

That piqued my interest, suddenly potential culprits flooded through my brain.

"Your parents?" I asked arrived at the simplest answer first.

"I'll tell you later, you're breaking my concentration."

"My bad, my bad."`

We chatted, cut up, and laughed while exploring the world of spray painting. Before long, we were ready to attempt the real thing on the side of the wall with traffic.

I boxed the text "Queen Yumi," finishing the touch.

I watched my hand jitter during an arc screwing the symmetry of the letter.

I sighed, "I kinda fucked up the Q…"

"Hm? No, I like it! Don't do anything to it."

I looked over in time to catch Yumi making the dots above the I's in her text into hearts.

"What are those?!" I pointed.

"I painted this, I'm doing it my way."

"Okay, okay. People are just going to wonder if we're lesbians is all I'm saying."

"Ha! Serves you right for all the insensitive things you've said tonight."

I didn't really care, but poking fun about it was an opportunity I didn't want to pass up.

We both finished each other's names, then I tied it together with a textured background before stepping back and admiring the fruit of our labor.

"My part didn't turn out as good as yours…"

"If that was your goal you were aiming _too high, too fast_. I'm impressed with what you ended up with for your first time. Take pride in your effort."

"It's hard when you can go to the internet and find a thousand examples that show your still nothing compared to people who are good."

"Is that why you gave up on drawing for a while?"

_**Ding. Ding. **_Her phone's alert noise pinged even more.

Yumiko buried her hands in her face sighing in exasperation.

"Everything good?"

"...I want to talk about something."

"No problem, what's up?"

"...It's Aketo."

"That's who's been blowing up your phone all night and you haven't even texted back once?"

"He thinks I like him or that he can make me like him. Something like that. He's been trying to flirt more and more, and he's not understanding or doesn't care how I feel."

"He's reinforcing he's low value by blowing up your phone like that. How many people want to be with someone they consider better than themselves?

"Uh… Most people?"

"I can see it in your eyes, you know and I know his behavior is a missive turn off, but he doesn't know that. He probably thinks he's doing things that will make you happy, but he's not living in reality okay? And you're enabling him."

"How is this my fault?! I turned him down again and again. I told him I like you and since all he's done is try to turn me against you. He… He even sent me a picture of his dick. Since then I haven't messaged him back thinking he'll finally get it, but no, now he's mad that I didn't say anything back. I couldn't have been any clearer, this doesn't make any sense."

_Okay... yup, shit's REALLY starting to make sense now._

"Don't pretend you have zero part in this. If you dangle hope in front of him when you know damn well there's no hope for him, you are not faultless. It's really simple. Stop dangling that hope, stop trying to spare his feelings, stop taking his energy and validation for yourself because you're insecure and it makes you feel better, stop double-speaking and telling him _'it's not him'_, especially when we know full well _**it's ALL him**_."

"That's not what I'm doing! I'm just trying to be a good friend, he's the ones trying to change things. We were just fine how we were before he had to go and mess it up."

"Mmnmnnn, I'm not doing this. See your being emotional. Take a deep breath, remove how you feel and look at the facts."

"You know this guy likes you, it's obvious and he's not trying to hide it. He texts you at all hours of the day, he's telling you that you're more valuable than his own time which is a problem in itself but I can save that for another time. There's very little here to misunderstand from his side, you are outputting mixed signals."

"I swear I'm not! Here look through all our messages. I'm the victim." She tossed her phone over unexpectedly.

I fumbled it up recovering from the bad catch, before clamping it between my right forearm and the back of my left hand.

_**Phew.**_

"I don't have to look at your messages to know, that's how female nature is. Okay, let me give you some options. Listen-"

"No, you listen. Look at my phone and tell me I wasn't clear."

"I have no doubt you told him you weren't interested, but what else have you told him you don't even realize? you can continue what you're doing… Keep getting his dick pics while he tries to get you to pity fuck him, or you can listen to me, trust I have your best interest at heart, and I'll fix this all with one message."

"You can fix it all with one message? I doubt it's that easy."

"No, it'll be real easy. Give me the green light and I'll do it right now."

"You're... not going to hurt him are you?"

"He's going to hurt himself because he projected his expectations onto you. He sees the person he thinks you are, the you he makes in his head instead of the person he's actually talking to. That part's on him, okay? There's no happy answer, it's a dose of medicine, a pill he's gotta swallow, it's in both of your self-interests, don't you see that?"

"How is hurting him in his best interest?"

"Because ignoring a problem just makes it worse. If he moves on, he can realize some of his mistakes he's made, and he's not wasting his time and energy on you when you won't reciprocate. Not only that, think about all the girls you're helping out by equipping him with the tools to attract. It's like leaving the world a better place than you found it, you feel me?"

"You just want to hurt him and do that macho flex crap don't you. I don't like that stuff."

"Okay, Now I know you're not even listening to me. Back to your two options. Trust me, or not. If you don't decide, I'll decide for you."

"Well… what if we come up with some ideas together so we can-"

"-Nananana, Listen, you see what you're doing, right? You're avoiding choosing. If you don't choose you can't be responsible or judged for your decision. I can see that from a mile away. It's simple, so are you going to trust me, or not?"

"I... trust you. Of Course I do."

"Okay. Then I'll handle this."

I start grabbing and massaging my crotch through my pants, bringing up a bank of mental nudes saved in my memory.

"What... are you doing?!"

"You second-guessing me already?! It hasn't even been 5 seconds!"

"No. Nevermind - I'm sorry."

Blood flowed down to my other head, the waking giant, or so I'd wish.

"If you don't want to see my dick I advise you look the other way, I don't care one way or another."

"You-"

"Shhh-" I hushed her up, only waiting moments before fulfilling my promise by whipping it out on the spot.

Her phone in my hand flashed.

I stared at the photo of my dick, starting to feel a bit insecure and self-conscious, but buried that feeling away deep inside to never let it reach the light of day.

Cocking my head to the side, I caught Yumi peering through cracks in her fingers over to me.

"Like what you see?"

"Hmph!" She huffed.

I packed it back up and zipped my jeans.

"If you want a guy to stop giving you dick pics just hit him with another back. It helps if it's bigger than his, but I don't have any reference how big his is and don't care, so this will do."

"This is mean spirited and flat out wrong!"

I sent the photo, and followed it up with: "This is my King's cock. I'm not interested in yours in the slightest."

The message completed made a noise, so I turned back to Yumi.

"If that doesn't fix your problem, Aketo is beyond our help."

"You... really and honestly think that was a good idea?"

"When am I not honest? He's a hero who can't hear his call to adventure because he locked in his own fantasy. Give him a chance by not feeding the fantasy."

"...okay. I'll try."

"If he doesn't get the message all at once, and flirts with you again, just hit him with that picture and message combo. It's unguardable - like MJ's fadeaway," I added." He'll get the picture quick, I swear."

We sat around for a while longer. She leaned her weight into me, my arm around her waist while reclined out, our asses resting on the picnic table's top, leet resting on the bench.

When glancing down, I caught her eyeing me like a famished beast, a spark of mischief in her eye.

I took her left hand in my right, pulling it over and resting it on my knee.

She kept staring at me, even daring to lick her lips seductively.

I gently dragged her hand up my thigh with a grip loose enough she could brush off at any moment.

I eyed her as she eyed me, both of us refusing to look away.

Her hand crept higher, and higher until it was resting fully on my crotch.

Her curious squeeze sent my blood rocketing to the head.

I stood up, pulling her off her ass, before sitting back down and guiding her on my lap.

We were near the entrance of the park, Yumiko sat down with no objections. Her neck outstretched admiring the stars while scooching back and forth over my lap.

My right hand climbed up her obliques until my hand arrived cupped beneath her breast.

She caught my hand, batting it away. I took the hint, realizing I was pushing my luck anyways.

"Not to be negative or anything, I like you a lot obviously, but I don't know if a long-distance relationship is the best idea..."

"Yeah, I don't want a long-distance relationship either."

She winced, shaken deeply by my words.

"You called me your Queen! **Were you saying whatever I wanted to hear to string me along?!**"

She started pummeling my shoulder without mercy, and with her, on my lap there was no retreat from her assault.

I caught her wrists, locking them up to stop taking her abuse.

"You _**ARE**_ my Queen. That's why long-distance isn't good enough, maybe for a mistress, but I've got to bring you along to Central Duel Academy."

"Wha-but-I... Do you know how much that costs? I don't have that good of grades, I suck at dueling, and my parents are dirt poor. You know they can't save a dime to save their life. I'm sorry, but there's no way."

"Not true. I made an art portfolio of some of the stuff in your sketchbook you lent me and I sent it in. They liked it and would accept you into their arts program. I looked into it and it's pretty good, you can definitely grow there, and Imma be there so I mean, what's not to love?"

"Baby that sounds awesome, but the money's not there. I really can't, I'm sorry."

She started crying, full-on tears streamed down her cheeks.

"Listen, Listen. Yumiko-er-Yumi…" I paused awkwardly trying to recover from my misstep. She sniffled and continued wailing. "look me in the eyes, come on give me a second, pick that chin up girl."

"W-what?"

"Pretend money isn't even a factor, put that out of your head and forget all about it, okay? If it were free, would you do it?"

"Duhhh, in a heartbeat. That's why I'm all worked up because I know that dummy!"

"Come over here."

I said, hanging my arms out in expectation.

She sniffled, then stared at me with a confused expression before reluctantly bringing it in and wrapping her arms around me.

"I got accepted for a full scholarship so I pay nothing out of pocket. all that money I had saved to pay tuition... I'm using it to pay your tuition."

"... no. Oh my god, you're playing with my emotions right now, there's no way you're serious."

"Dead serious. Look into these stone-cold eyes and recognize my authenticity."

"I'm… I just-" She started, erratically waving her hands in the air. "I can't let you do this. Tuition is too much money, you can't waste it on me."

"If you don't want to go fine, but be honest and say you're afraid, or nervous."

"I'm not-"

"-BUT DON'T TELL ME WHAT I CAN OR CAN'T SPEND MONEY ON."

"You were complaining when I thought you got me two kabob's, how is this any different."

"Because to me, this is fulfilling NEEDS. I NEED my queen by my side, and you NEED to get out of your parent's hair and become the person you want to be."

"Ooooo, you're always playing all cool and tough now, but you can't hide that you're still a softy inside. You care more than you let on."

She started rubbing her cheek against mine.

"I'm not soft..." I mumbled.

"Thank you, Thank you! I'll... pay you back. One way or another I'll make this up to you."

"Absolutely not. You don't owe me anything. I refuse to hold favors over your head, I'm just doing what's mutually beneficial for both of us. It's nothing impressive, when I'm doing well of course I want to see the people around me and in my corner winning too. It's common sense." I thumped my finger on my temple.

"Call it whatever you want, but _'in here'_ I know the truth." Her hands hovered over her chest and heart. Blissful happiness swept over her causing her to shine radiantly.

_It's official. She's adorable._

* * *

┬┴┬┴┤寸法の橋渡し├┬┴┬┴

_**A/N:**__ Long chapter, finally glad it's complete enough to release. Next chapter will probably be from Kiaba's POV and will show his match with Niomi, then Chloe, then his father. Duel academy should show up within the next two chapters."_


End file.
